Just some notes...

1. Christmas is SO close! Christmas CDs--CHECK! Watch Rudolph, The Grinch, Frosty, Elf, and Christmas Vacation--CHECK! Decorate the house and burn seasonal candles--CHECK! Buy presents--CHECK! Wrap presents--CHECK! See Christmas lights--CHECK! Drink hot chocolate and make Christmas cookies--CHECK! Gingerbread houses--CHECK! I would say we're ready for the big day! :)

Our awesome, handcrafted Christmas cookies.
They were bland and not very tasty (I don't like sugar cookies).
But they were fun and look good on our Christmas dish in the kitchen! :)

2. Last night there were candlelight vigils in Statesboro and Atlanta, as well as people all over the world burning candles from home for this family. Scott & I couldn't make it, but we gathered all the candles in our house and burned them in the living room. We spent about 45 minutes in prayer and worship. It was such a powerful experience. I hope that the family could feel our love and support. 

3. I know I was feeling frustrated and confused with God about how things are turning out for this family. But God reminded me of something yesterday, as I was singing Christmas songs in my car. I've been asking for a Christmas miracle, but God already gave us the best and only Christmas miracle we'll ever need: Jesus Christ. Because of that one miracle, we don't need anymore miracles for our whole lives. Because of that miracle we can have peace and joy despite the circumstances of life. Because of that miracle, even in death we have eternal life. Even if Brian doesn't make it, he gets to be with Jesus in Heaven, and THAT is miracle enough. It was such a wonderful reminder of the true meaning of Christmas, and gave me such peace. I admit, I still pray that Brian will recover, but I feel much more at peace with the reality that he probably won't. And that doesn't mean God has failed us. He is still worthy of our praise. We sang these songs last night during our prayer time and I meant every word.

4. I got my first Christmas present from Scott yesterday, and it was SUCH a good one! I've been wanting some artwork to go on the wall, over the bed, in our guestroom. I've had a really hard time picking something that I like that's also in our price range. Scott had an art student who works with him at The University Store paint me something! He sent her pictures of things he knew I liked, told her what colors we wanted, and she painted something original from that! It was so awesome! And it looks perfect in the room! I'll have to take a picture to post b/c I haven't done that yet (bad blogger!!).

5. This is my favorite Christmas song this year. It's so beautiful and such a moving portrayal of the Christmas story. Sometimes it's easy to take it for granted and not think about the wonderful fact that Mary was faithful in trusting God as she brought a baby into the world as a virgin, Joseph staying by her side despite how it looked to others, Jesus being born in a BARN next to animals, and men and kings coming to bow to him. Beautiful! It brings tears to my eyes when I really think about it and sing this song.

Merry Christmas, bloggers! Love you all! :)

~Christy~