Up burning the midnight oil as usual. Was addressing my Christmas cards ha, and planning what I have to do tomorrow to get ready for the party we are having. Fun fun. The Hardings are back! they arrived tonight. So fun. The funniest part about today is that a 57 year old man asked me out. I know his age because I was at the county court house appearing before the honorable judge somebody to get a court date to dispute a ticket I got (I know you are thinking I am just like mom, Dad ha. but i will have you know that I didn't lose my cell phone. The mystery was solved when Dave checked the phone records and when it was last used. It was Kelly calling during the stake music program where i was playing violin. Rachel took it out of my purse and gave it to guess who..... Dave! I said, go and check your suit pocket. Lo and behold, there it was! Yeahhhhhhhh! I knew I didn't misplace it!!) Anyway back to court. We all had to state our name and birth date etc. And his was 1949! He was a outspoken Bostonian who could easily have been one of the police officers on NYPD. He seriously was like a TV character. So he comes and sits by me, and asks if I have had breakfast yet. of course. Then he asks for a pen, and wants me to write down my number to which I replied, "Are you for REAL?" He said yes, and I said no! I couldn't believe it. I was going to give him a pass along card, but I decided no after that. ha ha. My kids think it is the funniest story ever. Leah after thoughtfully mulling it over said, "You should have nicely said thank you, but that you are married.
OK Christmas was so wonderful, and I want to share it all but like Kelly, I am ready to move on. But I have to share three Christmas miracles we experienced.
The first has to do with Dad and Kathi coming. We had so much fun with them. It has been hard to heal from my mom's death and be able to handle my Dad having a new wife. It has been a time thing for me. I have always thought Kathi a very nice person, but I felt ready to really open my heart to her, and enjoy being with her without feeling weird or sad. To be able to overcome my the pain and hurt that I felt was the best Christmas present that I received, and it truly was a gift. When I read this quote from President Hinkley, it pretty much summed it up for me. "Most of us have not reached that stage of compassion and love and forgiveness. It is not easy. It requires a self-discipline almost greater than we are capable of. But as we try, we come to know that there is a resource of healing, that there is a mighty power of healing in Christ, and that if we are to be His true servants we must not only exercise that healing power in behalf of others, but, perhaps more important, inwardly. " Love is always a good thing, a good choice. And it was so beautiful to see the result of Love. On Christmas morning as Kathi read the card that Rachel took so much time to make her in which she expressed her great love for her new Grandma Kathi, I started crying as I watched Kathi cry more and more with each line. To be loved is a wonderful thing. My children are such great examples of that. They know how to love. Love isn't a resource that we need to use sparingly. We don't only have so much in us to give. In fact the more you give, the greater capacity you have to give even more. It is an amazing thing. So all this to say...Kathi I am so glad you are a part of our family. We will always be here for you. We will always love you. We welcome you with open arms and open hearts.
The second Christmas miracle occurred on Christmas eve. Two other families (although so many others were involved) gathered at our home on Christmas eve. Normally we just read the Christmas story, open our Christmas eve gift (PJ's) put Santa's cookies out and hop in bed. Or at least some of us hop in bed. This whole routine seems magical, and is a wonderful tradition. But I definitely think that nothing has brought more magic, more Christmas spirit, and more of the feeling of Christ as what we did this Christmas eve. Back to story. I get carried away sometimes (OK all the time). We gathered together to wrap and prepare a Christmas for a family in need. Food, stockings, clothes, bedding, bikes. It took three vans full to carry it all over. Wow, the generosity of so many. We all piled in our cars with all our kids, grandparents, aunts and uncles and followed in a line over to their house. The Christmas lights never twinkled so bright and our hearts were never so merry. My girls could hardly contain their excitement and kept proclaiming how much they love service. Leah said, "I feel so happy for them, they will be so grateful, I love to do service, and more which i can't remember, and then said, this is my testimony. It was so sweet. The warm spirit of Christmas was glowing on her little face, and on her sisters'. When we got there we all piled out and with great enthusiasm we all unloaded everything filling their whole living room. The once barren Christmas tree was piled high with fun surprises. I got a call from a very grateful mother, who said she couldn't believe it, and we will never know how much she appreciated it. She said it was all she could do to keep the kids from opening the gifts until morning. At the last minute as I was walking out the door to deliver the gifts (everyone was waiting in their vans) and I remembered that I had come across some lamps in the closet that we weren't using and thought I bet they don't have lights. I ran and grabbed them and hauled them out to the car. How cool it was to hear her say, I plugged in all the lights. How did you know that we needed lights. Heavenly Father loves us each so much. He knows what is going on in our lives, he knows our needs. He is mindful of us and hears our prayers. We just need to listen so we can help Him answer them. I will never forget this Christmas and the special feelings we have. Our New Years Goal will definitely be to continue our service throughout the year.
The third has to do with who we were secretly doing the twelve days of Christmas for. Every night we left a different piece of a nativity set, with treats, a scripture, story, and thoughts along with it. It really kept us on thinking about the meaning of Christmas as we picked out stories. I don't know this family very well. I have only spoke with the Mom at the door a couple of times for a few minutes, but I have really felt drawn to them. Well, Dave just told me that our home teacher who is also this families home teacher told him that the 16 year old boy from this family who has never come to church came Christmas morning, as he introduced himself in priesthood he said that this was his first time coming and he planned on continuing to do so. These are the best presents. While I love my chocolate fountain that I got, nothing brings more joy than to see my own life, or someone else's changed for the better. A heart softened, a load lightened, a testimony of Christ born. These are the greatest miracles in life.
OK Christmas was so wonderful, and I want to share it all but like Kelly, I am ready to move on. But I have to share three Christmas miracles we experienced.
The first has to do with Dad and Kathi coming. We had so much fun with them. It has been hard to heal from my mom's death and be able to handle my Dad having a new wife. It has been a time thing for me. I have always thought Kathi a very nice person, but I felt ready to really open my heart to her, and enjoy being with her without feeling weird or sad. To be able to overcome my the pain and hurt that I felt was the best Christmas present that I received, and it truly was a gift. When I read this quote from President Hinkley, it pretty much summed it up for me. "Most of us have not reached that stage of compassion and love and forgiveness. It is not easy. It requires a self-discipline almost greater than we are capable of. But as we try, we come to know that there is a resource of healing, that there is a mighty power of healing in Christ, and that if we are to be His true servants we must not only exercise that healing power in behalf of others, but, perhaps more important, inwardly. " Love is always a good thing, a good choice. And it was so beautiful to see the result of Love. On Christmas morning as Kathi read the card that Rachel took so much time to make her in which she expressed her great love for her new Grandma Kathi, I started crying as I watched Kathi cry more and more with each line. To be loved is a wonderful thing. My children are such great examples of that. They know how to love. Love isn't a resource that we need to use sparingly. We don't only have so much in us to give. In fact the more you give, the greater capacity you have to give even more. It is an amazing thing. So all this to say...Kathi I am so glad you are a part of our family. We will always be here for you. We will always love you. We welcome you with open arms and open hearts.
The second Christmas miracle occurred on Christmas eve. Two other families (although so many others were involved) gathered at our home on Christmas eve. Normally we just read the Christmas story, open our Christmas eve gift (PJ's) put Santa's cookies out and hop in bed. Or at least some of us hop in bed. This whole routine seems magical, and is a wonderful tradition. But I definitely think that nothing has brought more magic, more Christmas spirit, and more of the feeling of Christ as what we did this Christmas eve. Back to story. I get carried away sometimes (OK all the time). We gathered together to wrap and prepare a Christmas for a family in need. Food, stockings, clothes, bedding, bikes. It took three vans full to carry it all over. Wow, the generosity of so many. We all piled in our cars with all our kids, grandparents, aunts and uncles and followed in a line over to their house. The Christmas lights never twinkled so bright and our hearts were never so merry. My girls could hardly contain their excitement and kept proclaiming how much they love service. Leah said, "I feel so happy for them, they will be so grateful, I love to do service, and more which i can't remember, and then said, this is my testimony. It was so sweet. The warm spirit of Christmas was glowing on her little face, and on her sisters'. When we got there we all piled out and with great enthusiasm we all unloaded everything filling their whole living room. The once barren Christmas tree was piled high with fun surprises. I got a call from a very grateful mother, who said she couldn't believe it, and we will never know how much she appreciated it. She said it was all she could do to keep the kids from opening the gifts until morning. At the last minute as I was walking out the door to deliver the gifts (everyone was waiting in their vans) and I remembered that I had come across some lamps in the closet that we weren't using and thought I bet they don't have lights. I ran and grabbed them and hauled them out to the car. How cool it was to hear her say, I plugged in all the lights. How did you know that we needed lights. Heavenly Father loves us each so much. He knows what is going on in our lives, he knows our needs. He is mindful of us and hears our prayers. We just need to listen so we can help Him answer them. I will never forget this Christmas and the special feelings we have. Our New Years Goal will definitely be to continue our service throughout the year.
The third has to do with who we were secretly doing the twelve days of Christmas for. Every night we left a different piece of a nativity set, with treats, a scripture, story, and thoughts along with it. It really kept us on thinking about the meaning of Christmas as we picked out stories. I don't know this family very well. I have only spoke with the Mom at the door a couple of times for a few minutes, but I have really felt drawn to them. Well, Dave just told me that our home teacher who is also this families home teacher told him that the 16 year old boy from this family who has never come to church came Christmas morning, as he introduced himself in priesthood he said that this was his first time coming and he planned on continuing to do so. These are the best presents. While I love my chocolate fountain that I got, nothing brings more joy than to see my own life, or someone else's changed for the better. A heart softened, a load lightened, a testimony of Christ born. These are the greatest miracles in life.
3 comments:
double awesome.
i read that whole book (a heart like his) on christmas night. LOVED it. loved it.
THANK YOU SO MUCH! WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS WHAT I AM FEELING. I AM SO GRATEFUL TO HAVE ALL OF YOU IN MY LIFE. THANK YOU.
you're so wonderful heathie... love you
Post a Comment