My Apologies. Again

My writing, (along with everything else) took a big side step this past Christmas and entire holiday season and beyond. I also have had the flu :( So to you, my dear readers, I apologize. I ask you to forgive me, as I am still in process (ie. have yet to arrive, still muddling through, sometimes underneath it all) and I hope you still want to read the random ramblings of this crazy lady.

That being said, I must quickly give you an update on what has been happening to keep me so distracted and cause me to abandon you, my faithful tribe. Yep, you are my tribe. My encouragers. My soul sisters. And, by the way, thank you for always being there for me. Don’t know what I would do without you. 

So first of all, let me just say number one distraction: Christmas. 

I love it. Love the gifts, the decorations, the food, the Savior coming to the world. Everything about it. And I got the tree and all the decorations up really early this year. Thought I was doing great. Thought I had lots of time, and then:

Birthday number 14 of child number 5 happened. And what did she want to do for her birthday? See a rocket launch. Which, by the way was amazing. But it was at Kennedy Space Center, which is a 2.5 hr. drive and, well, the first day it was scrubbed. So we came home, then at 2 AM went up again. Because of course, the launch was at 7:05 AM. But the second time, it went off without a hitch, so we came home and slept for 2 days. 

We also had the wonderful surprise of having a house guest for several weeks during the last of November and early December. We were thrilled to have our dear friend with us, but I think I used her being here as an excuse for not accomplishing the less fun, more work of writing. Although I love writing, it takes lots of time. Really. You don’t just think I make these things up out of thin air, do you?

I had also committed (crazy woman that I am) to do an act of kindness every day for the entire month. I should have known. Should have known that I wouldn’t have the energy or fortitude (or imagination) to maintain that schedule. Especially since I just came up with the idea in November. So, live and learn. I am going to try it again next year, but you will have to wait and see what we will do. It will be here before you and I know it. And I do feel like we accomplished some wonderful things. What God wanted us to do. I was feeling like a failure, but God reminded me that any step forward is a step toward Him, and we can learn from failure sometimes better than from success. So there you go. I learned much. And have a better plan for next time. 

As for the blog, well, I usually do a December Daily, and had great plans for that. Even had some wonderful guest bloggers. I failed there, too. But you will get to read them, because they are delightful. I am not sure when I will feature them…maybe on the 25th of every month, so we can count down to Christmas together. Did I say I love Christmas? And I plan to do a craft day on the 25th of every month so I can make some of the things I put off until the last minute, so that by Christmas all my crafty gifts are done, and I am ready! 

But the biggest thing that kept me from writing is that I was preparing my heart to go see our daughters in the frosty north. Oh yeah, and preparing my body for the frigid temperatures we faced, too. Had to get out all the winter gear and wash it, pack and purchase for child number 5, since the last time she was in snow, she was 8 years old, and yeah, her snow gear is just a bit too small. And, I had to try to figure out how in the world we were going cram all our stuff into the car, and make the 25+ hours drive in the car (one way) without killing each other. Or ourselves. Because remember, for the last 5 years we have done all of our long distance traveling in the comfort of our 40+ ft. motor home. Well, suffice it to say we are all alive and no worse for the wear. And our visit with both our daughters, and one’s partner, was wonderful. We had so much fun together, and laughed and ate and went sightseeing, and ate, and played games, and ate. We even did a raclette night, which involves massive amounts of cheese and potatoes- it is a traditional dish of somewhere, and it is delicious. Look it up. Again, more eating. Seems like most of my warmest memories revolve around food. 

Makes me think of Jesus. 

Did you ever think that many teaching times of Jesus’ ministry were while they were eating? 

Water into wine, feeding of the 5000, The Last SUPPER, for goodness sake. He knows us. He knows our physical needs are often our priority, while the spiritual is His. So He meets us where we need Him to, and then we can hear Him over the growl in our stomachs. 

This just occurred to me: Perhaps that is why fasting is such a difficult and important spiritual discipline. Maybe, God wants us to put aside what is important, to be able to get to the deeper truths. To sacrifice what we want, and need, for what we need more. To show Him that He is more important to us- that it is the “Bread of Life” that sustains us, not just our daily bread. Maybe it is more about our love for Him than our love for ourselves and food. Hmmmm….. 

Anyway, enough for today. I am ever so grateful that you, my friends were praying for us. We felt it, knew you were praying, and it truly sustained us. I cannot thank you enough. And if you didn’t, don’t feel bad. I was the one who did little to no writing, so you were not informed. God knew who needed to know, and it was all good. He was all good. Always is.