Very Full

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with both sides of my family. I still dream about the mashed potatoes... Today I had a very "full" feeling. "The fullness of life" came into being through three avenues:

1 - Even though is hasn't been easy nor always fun, looking back over the past year has showed me how I've become closer to God by allowing him to change what needed to be changed in me.
2 - A man from our church gave me "a little gift" from he and his wife as a way to show their thanks and support for my husband's ministry. I believe this is the second largest "little gift" I have received in my life.
3 - I was reflecting on the previous two items while driving home from grocery shopping. Every branch, twig, leaf, blade, roof, rock and particle was coated with fresh, white show. It was a breath-taking sight.

All I could do was just be filled with a sense of care, contentment and revelation that this is what God wants for me - to stand in awe of him and to constantly give up who I am for who he wants me to be. He made me. He knows me better than I know myself, so who better to entrust with this 'self'?

A friend recently wrote a Facebook note about this idea from a different perspective. He and his wife are in the midst of a difficult time in their lives and at a deep point of brokenness, he wrote: "...what if God gives me such a heart for this lost and broken world that I no longer accept the normal paradigms of pastor but instead become the man that He has created me to be, then what..."

How does this look when I take my head out of the clouds and put my feet back on the dog-hair-covered carpet? Over the past two years, I've been taught about faith and true belief in God, I've been taught some about my role as a wife. So now I'm motivated and encouraged to take yet another step towards releasing who I am to who I am intended to be. But it's still hard to take that first step. Does it ever get easier to say, "I'll change"?

Black Black Friday

Every good holiday has an "eve" and often, that is when most of the celebrating is done. Consider: All Saint's Eve (a la Halloween) /All Saint's Day; Christmas Eve / Christmas, New Year's Eve / New Year's Day, Memorial Day Weekend /Memorial Day (same for Labor Day) and, of course, Thanksgiving /Black Friday. I wasn't so sure I wanted to celebrate Black Friday this year, but now that it's over, I'm glad I did. I must admit, I shopped online last night to secure some items from a store that is typically quite crazed.

5:09 - Alarm Rings. I accidentally turn it off.
5:19 - wake up in panic.
5:23 - head downstairs dressed & ready to do
5:25 - head downstairs again after tucking in Thing One (He was crying for me to say "good night" but did say "sank you for bankets momma". How sweet!)
5:31 - pull out of garage with chocolate chip bagel, banana and Diet Coke
5:55 - in line at discount store with familia already in line
6:15 - checked out! Thought that would take a lot longer!
6:30 - leave headquarters (mom and dad's house)
7:00 - in line at warehouse store
8:05 - in warehouse store
8:35 - leave warehouse store with only 33% of desired items : (
9:00 - enjoying traditional Black Friday breakfast with family
10:00 - regroup at HQ2 (our house)
12:22 pm - back home from 4 other locations with success! Well, we did walk out of one store because the checkout lines were too long for our piddly little items.

Hope you had a fun day! The Christmas Tree awaits us!

P.S. The Cran-Apple pie turned out fabulous so says all the female relatives. It's a little scary bringing your first pie to a meal hosted by the best family cooks. I'll share my super easy, do-ahead, super secret recipe if you ask nicely and share a favorite Thanksgiving recipe with me!