Shhh...

Isaiah 11:6 "Then wolves will live at peace with lambs, and leopards will lie down in peace with young goats. Calves, lions, and bulls will all live together in peace. A little child will lead them."

Considering what was going on in our house, it would have been all to easy to miss this one. I mean was up to my armpits in tape, wrapping paper and presents.  The Stig had very generously made me homemade biscuits & gravy for breakfast and then grabbed E! and the two were off doing some last minute errands (that I was informed where "none of my bee's wax!") 

So it was just "A" and me at home. She was playing quietly upstairs while watching a Christmas video. Entertaining a 3 year old while wrapping a family's worth of stocking stuffers and presents wasn't  on my "To Do List" for the morning... but she was being really good. She'd only tried twice to come into my bedroom. And for someone who only recently came to understand the idea of sweet secrets, that was pretty good.

I came banging up the stairs with a load of junk that had previously been strewn around the house... muttering about being tired of always picking up other people's stuff. "Shh..." she whispered, "Momma, baby Jesus is being born for me!"

I stood there with my mouth a gasp, tears forming in my eyes. There sitting on the floor of our game room, she had assembled them all - Bob and Larry, angels and animals along with no fewer than four "baby Jesus" stand ins. 

With Nutella spread across her little cherub cheeks she explained that they were all waiting for Jesus to be born again - this time for her. When I asked her why she had so many tiny infants there she looked at me as though that were a silly question and said, "Because I need him!"

Oh sweet baby Jesus - Thank you for being born again for me today.

More of you baby Jesus... and a whole lot less of me!

Finding My Mind...

Last night I was running up and down the stairs draping toilet paper over the banister - throwing a roll over the light fixture - making large pools of paper on the floor. Our Elf on the Shelf - Stella Nutella - sat holding an empty cardboard tube with a silly grin on her face. Probably because she knew full well that she was going to take the blame and the punishment too (spending the day in the "Simmer Down Chair!") I was downright giddy. I've had such fun this year scheming and dreaming up little things to make A&E giggle and grin. And tonight was no exception... it was becoming the rule.
The Stig had run to the store for a few things and when he walked in the door and saw the tee-pee job I had just completed, he exclaimed, "Woman... have you lost your mind?"
And all I could think was, "No... I'm just finding it!"
I am laughing and playing more than I have in years. I give God all the glory for the gifts of 2011 - a new home closer to work/school/church - losing 70 pounds - two really healthy happy girls - a husband whose new job has given him a new lease on life - family and friends who continue to laugh and love with us.
I apologize for not being a good blogger for the last few months... but life has been pretty full!
In 2012 here's to More of You God... and less of me.