I spent the majority of the morning picking up the aftermath and
I have spent the rest of the day perfecting the art of laziness.
I must admit...I am a pretty good at it!
It's been glorious!
I blame today's laziness on yesterday's.
Apparently I didn't use all my lazy up so it rolled over into today.
Pure gloriousness!
(And yes, that is actually a word...I looked it up.)
Christmas Day was so very nice.
We did something we haven't done in over five years.
We stayed home all day!
All glorious day!
All. day.
Did I mention it was all day?
Because it was. All day.
It just makes me smile thinking about it.
I wore my pajamas all day!
I don't even think I brushed my hair,
in fact I know I didn't.
It was stinkin' great!
It was all matted and crazy looking all day.
All day!
Again...glorious.
We normally spend Christmas day elsewhere.
We wake up at "way too early thirty" and open all of our gifts.
Then we hurry up and get everyone bathed and dressed to be out the door by 11:00 to head to a relative's house for Christmas lunch and to spend the majority of the day.
We don't return until after dark and we are exhausted and way overstuffed with Christmas turkey.
Don't get me wrong...
that has been nice every year.
I love getting together for the holidays.
But, there is just something about staying home and doing nothing on Christmas Day.
Man,
it's nice.
We still woke up early to open gifts,
but it was after 7:00 am!
That's late for Christmas morning.
After opening our gifts and picking up the mess from it,
our oldest daughter read the 2nd chapter of Luke to all of us and my husband prayed over our day together.
It was such a sweet moment.
Then we moved around slowly and cooked our Christmas dinner,
which consisted of my husband's famous beef roast and potatoes (yum-my!),
yam casserole (also yummy!),
bowtie pasta with olive oil, garlic and basil (the yummiest!)
and some warm garlic bread.
Dessert consisted of cakeballs or whatever candy was in our stockings.
It was,
you guessed it...
glorious!
We played games with the kids, laughed at eachother's silliness and snacked around.
(I think they laughed at my hair once or twice, but I'm not positive.)
We ended the day with movies and more eating.
Glorious I tell ya...simply glorious!
I caught myself several times looking all around at the kids playing and laughing together.
I would then look at my husband, and he was doing the same thing.
Then we would catch eachother's eye and just smile,
taking it all in.
scurrying to get the last minute details completed,
preparing for our Christmas Eve dinner,
our evening with family and friends,
and all of the festivities of Christmas Day,
I can't help but think of Mary.
Mary, the mother of our Savior.
I wonder...
how did she prepare for the coming of her Son's birth?
What was going through her heart
and her mind,
as she knew she would soon be holding the Savior of the world in her arms.
The Christ child who would be the miracle that is Christmas.
As I read in Luke today,
I realized exactly what she did to prepare...
Luke 1:46-55
And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”
Mary praised Him.
With song and with the words of her mouth.
She praised the Savior within her.
She didn't scurry all around and busy herself with things.
She simply praised Him.
May you praise Him with your whole heart
and with your song
and with the words of your mouth today.
May His praises fill your home
as we prepare to celebrate our Savior's birth.
Merry Christmas!
May it be filled with all the goodness that only He can bring.
Isaiah 9:6,7 (The MSG)
His names will be;
Amazing Counselor, Strong God, Eternal Father, Prince of Wholeness. His ruling authority will grow, and there'll be no limits to the wholeness He brings.
I ventured out yesterday in hopes to finish my Christmas shopping.
I had high hopes of getting it all done in one clean sweep.
Well...
you know what?
I did!
With the assistance of two very entertaining Christmas helpers,
(Thank you Amber and Tray!)
I was quite successful.
Who knew two teenagers could be so good at shopping?
(insert sarcasm here)
I can't tell you how elated I was when the last present was purchased.
Oh happy day!!!
The two hours in traffic on the way home...
that's right,
2 hours...
didn't bother be as much as it normally would have,
just because I knew I wouldn't have to return to the busyness of the city and shop again until after Christmas.
Wooohoooo!!
High fives all around and a happy dance for me!
Now that the Christmas shopping is complete and my daughter is home from college,
it is definitely beginning to feel like Christmas.
This is a bittersweet Christmas for us.
I think that our youngest is catching on to the whole
"Santa" bit and this will be our last Christmas with Santa.
(insert sad face here)
No more Santa.
No more cookies and milk set out on the mantle.
No more putting out sparkly oatmeal for the reindeers.
No more sneaking around like Christmas elves filling up the stockings.
No more.
Okay...let me just stop for a moment.
Yes...we did the Santa thing with our children.
They all know that Jesus is their Savior,
that He is the reason we live and breathe and have a season of celebration and giving.
He is the One we Glorify with our hearts and lives and He is our source for all things.
He is who we are made to worship.
Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on
his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
They know that the fat guy,
who celebrates no-shave November year round,
he just brings presents on Christmas and eats the cookies.
That's it in a nutshell.
Moving on...
(insert sad face here, again)
So yeah...
we have a tradition at our house.
When the kids get of age and come to the realization that we are in fact the actual Santa,
they get to stay up with us on Christmas Eve and wrap the Santa gifts.
My husband makes frozen coffee with mountains of whip cream and chocolate sprinkles.
They are so yummy!
We stay up to the wee hours of Christmas morning laughing and reminiscing of Christmas pasts,
and the memories we have made as a family.
They get to help us devour the Christmas cookies left for Santa on the mantle and giggle with excitement,
like Santa's elves,
as we sneak quietly to place the presents under the tree and fill the stockings.
Then,
when we all come down off of our caffeine and sugar high from those yummy frozen coffees,
we crash until the younger ones, or one,
wake up surprised once again on Christmas morning that Santa has visited our home.
It's quite magical.
It is honestly one of my favorite moments throughout the year.
My oldest daughter began helping us play the part of Santa quite a few years ago and our youngest daughter has joined the crew for the last couple of years.
And as I said,
I am sure that our little guy,
who just made double digits this past August,
will be joining us soon too.
But, then what?
Sigh...
I haven't got a clue.
I guess we will just have to start a new Christmas tradition.
I do hope,
that this tradition will live on one day with our own children and their little ones.
That would be sweet.
Speaking of sweet!
Now that all of the shopping is complete,
I can get on to more pressing business at hand.
Making cake balls!
I have over 300 in the freezer waiting to be dipped and decorated to give out to all of our family and friends for Christmas.
I've got some new decorating ideas that I am excited to try this year.
I just love giving them out to those I love.
My great grandmother always said,
"A way to a person's heart is through their stomach."
I think she may have been right about that.
I definitely haven't made any ememies giving away cake balls.
What traditions do you have in your home for Christmas?
Feel free to share them here in the comment section below,
or on my facebook page here.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no
evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Christmas Eve
26 days ago I couldn't even hold a pen to simply write my name on the hospital admittance sheet.
Today, I write my story to share with you.
For those of you who don't know, I am Tammy's husband Frankie, and I suffered a stroke that pretty much crippled my right side, from top to bottom.
I thought to myself,
"Well this is it.
This is how it all ends.
Why now God?
Why right before Christmas?
Who would take care of my family?
What would a Christmas be with them having to deal with a father and a husband's death?"
A final whisper came through my mind,
"Their Father will take care of them all",
and a sudden relief came from knowing, that all of my children and my wife had been born again through Jesus Christ.
And no matter what became of me, they would be taken care of by their Ultimate Father.
Although now,
it was time to deal with my relationship with the Father.
If this was my final day on earth, was I prepared as I thought I was?
Why was he taking me in my 38th year of my life?
What did I do so bad that I deserved this?
I didn't know it at the time, but He was just scaring me enough, so I would listen with all of my heart.
Not like all the times before,
when I listened to Him until I was satisfied at the results in my life, and then went about living it my way.
He wanted me this time, to go the full hundred yards, not dropping the ball.
That night in the hospital, I was woken up by His Spirit and the nurses alot.
I made God a promise, that if I could have one more chance, I would live out the rest of my years on earth for Him, being I lived the first 38 for me.
I had said this many times before, but this time it came from a place far deep inside my soul,that I didn't even know I had.
The prayer I said to Him was really different than all the rest, that I can't even explain it.
And this time,
I knew somehow it was going to be different.
Through God's strength, it was going to be different.
The day after, the doctor came by my hospital room and confirmed that I would be able to make a full recovery, although it was going to take alot of therapy.
He said,
"Take this is a warning. It is time to make some changes."
Quit smoking, diet change, and other things. I had been a smoker since I was 14 years old.
This alone was going to take a miracle.
This same lecture was given to me by random nurses, who I seen the Spirit of God living in,
speaking directly to me.
I took it all in, listening with all of my heart.
When I was released the next evening, the doctor asked me if I wanted him to write an order for the nicotine patch to help me. I told him no. If I was going to do this, I wanted all of my strength to come from leaning on God.
That evening when I got home, I asked my wife, of 20 years, to pray with me for the Holy Spirit to come into my life.
Something I had never done with her in our 22 years together, pray.
Oh, the chains that came loose!
But, it still seemed to me that there was more He wanted me to receive.
I felt this before, but still felt I needed more.
I asked my wife to call a couple of life long friends of ours to come help us pray for the Holy Spirit to come into my life and take over.
"The Reinforcements" arrived.
We visited a little while and then Brother Dennis said let's pray.
Brother Dennis, his wife, my wife, and my son began to pray.
And Oh my!
I felt a fire coming out of me from the bottom of my feet to the top of my head.
I began crying, sobbing, and my muscles weakened.
It was like someone was ringing my whole body out like a cheap sponge.
After minutes of this, it stopped and I was left weak, but amped up at the same time.
I began to say to my friends how awesome it was, but I still didn't get the gift of speaking in tongues.
They all began laughing and said,
"Oh boy, but you were speaking in tongues!"
I began giggling out loud, because I never knew I had spoke in the Spirit.
That's why this time felt so different than any other.
I truly released, for the first time in my life, all the things that I thought I let go of many times.
The chains of bondage were finally cut and melted down.
It would take an entire book to explain my life and all the things that had kept me bound, so I'm not even gonna try.
The important thing is, I was finally free!
The Lord has promised good to me His word my hope secures He will my shield and portion be As long as life endures
My chains are gone I've been set free My God, my Savior has ransomed me And like a flood His mercy rains Unending love, Amazing grace
~~Lyrics of Amazing Grace, My Chains are Gone, by Chris Tomlin
The next few weeks were going to be a challenge, from learning how to wait on the right side of my body to move seconds after my brain commanded it to, to simply going to the bathroom.
I had many things to reteach myself.
I am a brick mason by trade, so I am used to being very coordinated.
Let's just say, alot of tears were shed just trying to do the simple things, such as walking the dogs, shaving, brushing my teeth, and cooking myself an egg, much less using my tools.
But, with God's strength I was able to endure, and things started to repair themselves.
Then the fear of,
"Oh my God, my bills! What am I going to do?" entered my mind.
I began praying and He simply answered,
"Let Me work."
I seen my wife, who is always very faithful, worrying more than she should, and I told her,
"There is nothing we can do. We need to rely on God and only God. He knew this stroke was going to happen. He will take care of us."
So, we prayed, and comforted each other, knowing we had only what we started this relationship with 22 years ago, God and our love for Him, and one another.
And without asking for help from anyone but God, the next day things started to happen.
A job, that I could take my time with, came into my lap after a year of not getting a call for a side job, that I would have no choice but to go slow with, and slowly be able to rebuild my skills, had come through.
I could do it without anyone around to get embarassed with.
I could take my time and reteach myself.
Someone went into our bank and paid out our land mortgage.
We were blessed with enough money to make up for my time lost at work, through a friend and the generosity of her place of her employment.
We were blessed with groceries to get us by, from another wonderful friend we knew through my wife.
Every day something new.
Ever day another blessing.
Again, never asking anyone but God to take care of us, and knowing that He would.
Our church stepped forward and paid our electric bill.
Some awesome people in our church stepped forward and offered to take care of Christmas for me and my family.
It was all so much to take in.
Our lives were touched by God in so many different ways.
And I know, I am leaving out alot of blessings, but there are so many to mention.
Through our prayers, God showed His love through people I didn't really know at all.
But, this showed me that they didn't have to know me, they just had to know God, who led them to help His son,
their brother in Christ,
who called on the Father for help from the inner most part of his soul.
There are other blessings that came, such as healed relationships with my children, that are far too much to mention.
But...
for the first time in my life,
I can truly say that I have felt the love of a True Father that I have longed for my entire life!
And now that I have found it,
I never want to let it go!
This by far,
is the true meaning of Christmas, and the best one in all of my 38 years.
Thank you Jesus and Happy Birthday!
To anyone reading this, who is heavy hearted by my story, please don't let God have to scare you this much, to realize His love for you.
He is ready to come into your life as soon as you are willing to let Him.
Blessed be the Lord!
Love to all my brothers and sisters.
Merry Christmas!
Frankie Stelly
*Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts!
Romans 10:13
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his
shoulders.
And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting
Father, Prince of Peace.
It's now five days until Christmas.
Our skinny-white-lighted-overflowing-with-decorations Christmas tree sits quietly in the corner of our living room.
It stands starless, because the ceiling in our new house is too short to place a star on top.
It's underneath is barren and empty.
No presents sit underneath it,
welcoming Christmas with their colorful bows and tags to family and friends.
In it's emptiness...
it glows with an enchanting Light.
It takes me into it, and welcomes me, whenever I walk passed it.
Friends come over and compliment the tree, wooing and ooing over it's many ornaments.
Complimenting it's beauty.
Never noticing it's barrenness on top, or underneath.
I think of last year's Christmas, as though it's been years upon years, that have passed us by.
My heart shakes and sighs, in remembrance of the year that has come and gone.
So much loss...
and still, so much gain.
Luke 17:33
If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you
will save it.
I remember the fullness on top and underneath our tree from last year.
Our star burned brightly and at attention, on top of it.
Presents flooded the bottom poking at it's branches and invading all of the space around it.
Yet...
it didn't draw me in with it's light.
Oh, the presents were something to look at.
Pretty in all of their wonder
and color
and money invested
and hours worked to purchase them.
But...
no enchanting Glow.
No welcoming me into it.
No quiet moments gazing upon it.
There was an emptiness about it all.
Luke 2:12
And you will recognize Him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in
strips of cloth, lying in a manger.
Christmas came early for our family this year.
It was wrapped snugly in all of it's beauty and perfection...
it came in healing.
restoration.
breaking of bondage.
perfect on time provision.
peace.
laughter.
trusting.
knowing.
forgiveness.
togetherness.
encouragement from friends and family.
love so sweet.
gifts of the heart.
a listening ear.
Luke 2:14
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is
pleased!
I've known the meaning of Christmas my entire life.
Our Savior, born of a virgin, in the quiet, of a star-lit, empty, barren manger.
The small, new born King filling the universe to overflowing, with His perfect humble entrance.
Within the emptiness of that manger, the earth was filled.
Christ among us. Shining His Light.
Welcoming the world into His love embrace.
This is Christmas.
As I remember the Christmases of the past,
I stare, and sit in awe, at my starless tree of emptiness.
Yet...
in it's emptiness, we are filled.
Romans 15:13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace
because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the
power of the Holy Spirit.
I reflect on all of the unseen, unwrapped gifts that have been placed before us.
Miracles sprouting and blooming out of the nothingness.
Our lives overflowing with invisible blessings,
those that don't require colorful bows or frills.
I smile a smile of peace and contentment.
Joy fills my soul.
My heart dances within the quiet of the moment.
Like the hanging overstuffed branches of our tree, that glow in the Light of the tiny bulbs, my heart bursts with fullness.
Fullness in the Love that I know is here within these walls,
within our hearts,
within our lives...
within His presence.
This is Christmas.
My eyes are flooded to clear seeing within the tears that swell.
And for the first time in my 39 years of living and breathing...
I see and feel Christmas all around me.
My heart finds Christmas within the empty,
as it becomes our best Christmas ever.
It's within the touch of His hand, His light, and His love,
in His embrace.
It's within...
His fullness of Grace in the nothing.
Christ within us.
This... is Christmas.
John 8:12
Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, "I am the light of the world. If
you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the
light that leads to life."
