Hope

Every Christmas Eve, my husband and I stay up too late.

We go to Mass on Christmas Eve with my parents.

We go to their home for Christmas dinner.

We sing, "Happy Birthday, Jesus."

My dad dresses up like Santa Claus and my mother dresses as Mrs. Claus.

The kids know. But, they play along.

We do Santa at our house. Some don't. But the joy of Christmas is that Santa fosters a belief in things that cannot be seen. Life today requires that. Too often, the tangible is put above hope. Santa is never seen, yet we believe that the next morning there will be gifts under the tree because, in the tradition of Saint Nicholas, Santa embodies goodness and generosity.

Beautiful, perfect baby Jesus - pure and innocent - came to earth, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He served others with gentleness and offers eternal salvation. Don't get me wrong, I am not comparing Santa (or even the extraordinary generosity of Saint Nicholas) to Jesus. They both, however, are kind and generous and willing to overlook imperfections - even if we see ourselves as unworthy. As adults we approach Jesus with the same childlike wonder as we did with wrapped gifts under the tree on Christmas morning. Children often can't fully grasp the gift of salvation, but they can believe in and model the act of selfless giving.

It is easy to hope when we are children - everything is seen with wonder and awe. As adults, hope becomes more difficult. But, faith - well-developed and often practiced - keeps hope alive, even when hope seems lost.

This Christmas morning, with awe and reverence, we open a gift of His love and His saving grace. Hope.

One of my kids' favorite things is to see baby Jesus "appear" in the manger. He comes, wrapped in swaddling clothes, on Christmas Eve after Mass.

As we celebrate Jesus' birth and all of the joy that comes with our Savior, we remember that He is ALWAYS present - that this little baby, hardly the vision of a king, humbled himself to be born in a stable. Jesus was a child. And, he had the same childlike wonder we see in our own children. I can't imagine the joy that wonder put on Mary's face.

Peace and joy to you this Christmas Day!

A peek into my office, some exciting news and a discourse on the value of books

This is what my desk corner looks like.

I started my adult life as an English/journalism teacher. That career has since morphed into a new one: photographer and writer.

Those who know me well – specifically my best friend from college – know that throughout my college years (and some time beyond that), I carried a pocket-sized dictionary, thesaurus and stylebook in my purse.

They were lifelines for me. At any time, I could find the meaning of a word, locate an adjective that wasn’t overused and make sure I chose the correct preposition, adverb or punctuation mark.

A couple of years ago, my friend was back in town and we were out having coffee when she fondly reminisced … or, perhaps made fun of me a little … about the “library reference section” in my purse. Suddenly, after a few years of staying at home with my kids, I was shocked that I had abandoned those pocket-sized books!

But then, I realized I hadn’t – thanks to my smartphone! I have the latest version of the AP Stylebook, a dictionary and a thesaurus at my fingertips. I am completely covered!

I’ve written before about my typewriter, and sometimes I get a bit too nostalgic, but I do enjoy these books sitting on my desk – they seem ready to be called into service at any moment. Pages, both pristine and marked up, sit awaiting the duty that is theirs alone.

Why this little peek into my life – more closely, my desk?

Well, today I received a contract for an article that will run in a national magazine. I am so incredibly proud of the person who inspired this article and I truly hope that this helps him further his deepest desire – to help others. Look for a link when it publishes early next year. These books, the dedication of the key players in the article and my dear (fellow grammar-nerd) sister-in-law (who painstakingly worked to cut nearly 300 words from the original) helped me achieve this goal.

My message today? Don’t give up on these volumes of immense wisdom – love your reference books!

OK. And love ALL of your inspirations, too!

If you enjoy my blog, please consider “liking” my Facebook page – Just Writing Through.

And, I know I need some updated images there, but I haven’t had any snow to photograph!

"Make a gingerbread house"

Today, our Advent calendar read, "Make a gingerbread house."

I spent last night making gingerbread dough, rolling it out and then shaping it into the pieces of a gingerbread house.

The smell of gingerbread permeated the entire kitchen - and probably went up through the children's rooms as well. Thankfully, no one woke up.

Homemade gingerbread dough is a great tradition that my neighbor started and I adopted. I am so blessed to have amazing neighbors who have taught me so much about family, friends, motherhood and life.

So, I baked the pieces and laid them out - don't they look so amazing just sitting there - completely untouched. They are just waiting for little hands to decorate them!

This morning, the kids woke up and, after a Jesse Tree story and ornament-making, they pulled the tag that read, "Make a gingerbread house."

Together we whipped up a batch of royal icing and broke open a few bags of colorful candy.

Then the fun began - my four-year-old piled on the icing and loaded the roof with gumdrops while my eight-year-old carefully piped the icing on the edges and meticulously placed Twizzlers on the roof edges while strategically laying down gum drops in color-order.

This makes me think about both of my children. My four-year-old is completely carefree and whimsical. She is her own person - even at four. She has her own ways of doing things - and she is persistent. She won't settle.

My eight-year-old is more scientific. She likes to stay between the lines, her creativity always is tempered with care and a great deal of thought - making sure that there will be a correct fit before taking the next step.

So it is with life. I am not a risk-taker. I make sure my gingerbread house is secure - and completely dry - BEFORE I add anything more to it. I gently pipe icing on my house with the smallest amount possible. Then, I add a piece. I am steady. I add one gingerbread person and not a lot of decoration - less is more.

That pretty much describes me. I dream big, but I don't always travel very far. I make sure the security net is available, because I want someone to catch me when I fall.  Every so often, I've broken out of my comfort zone. Sometimes, I find it exhilarating and I embrace that whimsical, carefree spirit I see in my youngest daughter. It is in those moments that I remember to embrace that feeling and to encourage my oldest to explore new things - to never feel hindered by the (gingerbread) house she has built, but to every once in a while go to the edge and peer out. Open the door.

That is a lesson I try to hold dear, because you never know what is outside your door!

The Season of Waiting

One of my favorite parts about the Christmas season is Advent - the season of waiting.

My kids and I begin making a Jesse Tree beginning December 1.  On the very first day, I cut out a giant tree from white paper and the children finger-paint the tree green. We read the assigned Bible passages together each morning at breakfast and then my children create the ornament with a symbol from the story we read.

I suspect it would be easier to cut the tree out of green paper or to buy one of those beautiful felt trees with the ornate ornaments you can use each year, but (at least for now while they still enjoy it), I love watching them get excited about drawing pictures, coloring them and remembering the stories as we journey through Advent. It is special for me to see their art skills grow and to see what they choose as their symbols for the stories as we read. I have a great book that gives readings for the Jesse Tree as well as prayers for dinnertime – when we light our Advent candles.

 

The other thing we did this week was to create a stovetop scent for our neighbors. In paper bags, my oldest put one orange and one lemon; my youngest put in a cinnamon stick and counted out varying numbers of cranberries. We folded the top and stapled an instruction card to it. Today we visited some neighbors (we haven’t gotten to them all yet) and gave them our Christmas card and the bag. The girls were very excited! We thought it was sort of a post-Thanksgiving/early Christmas gift – thanking them for being the awesome neighbors they are and giving them a way to make their home smell a little more Christmas-y.

In the midst of this season of Christmas and gifts, I want to help ground my children in the blessings of the season – sharing with others, being thankful for what we have, being extra kind to friends and remembering that our precious Jesus was born in a humble stable – but the light He brought was so bright that it burns still today.

Be a light this season ... in this season of waiting.