Merry Christmas

Today we celebrate the birth of a Baby. A Baby literally born in a stable, a cave, the lowliest of dwellings. But that Baby would one day do great miracles and works. And one day, He would die for the sins of the world. That Baby will one day rule over all the nations as eternal Lord and King.
Today we celebrate His humble birth. And we offer Him thanks for His great plan of salvation for us.

It's funny though, what society tells us Christmas is 'really about'. It's funny, the feelings they say we should feel, the traditions we should follow. It's funny how little of it has anything to do with the true Christmas Story. Most years I anticipate Christmas like no other day. I bake all sorts of treats, I count all the presents enough times to memorize their recipients by sight, I count down to midnight Christmas Eve like a small child would. But this year, it's different. Nothing seems that important this year. Not even the music or the lights or the movies, which I shamelessly admit are my favorite parts of the holiday season. It all feels far away and distant to me, but I'm starting to think maybe it's better. I've been doing more thinking on Jesus and His plan for us more than Santa and his gifts. It's still disappointing though. I wanted to be one of those people who is fully 44 and still has that childlike excitement. I never wanted to grow up...

I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day spending time with my family. Christmas Eve, we all played video games, which I lost. And we sang carols together around the piano. We watched "It's A Wonderful Life" which has to be one of my favorite traditions. And afterwords we watched "The Santa Clause" which is my favorite Christmas movie. I remember watching it every year since it came out. Soon after midnight, I went to sleep. I woke around 3, but not wanting to wake my parents or brother up, I stayed in bed, and listened to Christmas music. Just thinking, dreaming, remembering. I attempted to turn on the Christmas tree lights in the living room, but there were so many presents I couldn't find, let alone reach, the switch. I found a walking stick and poked around a bit with my right hand, while holding my cell phone in my left to use the light to find the switch. Thank goodness the neighbors were still asleep; I must have looked insane. Around 4, I convinced myself I was going to be tired, so I set an alarm for 5 and fell back asleep. When I woke up again, my mom had just turned on the Christmas tree lights, and was about to head back up to sleep. Think again. My brother woke up and wanted to get right into the present-opening. He woke up my dad, and by 6, we were all assembled in the living room, fresh-brewed coffee in hand, A Piano Christmas playing softly in the background (as is tradition) ready to open gifts. Being an organized group, we took turns unwrapping one-by-one. My parents went all-out with gifts this year. There were several signed "Santa" for both my brother and, surprisingly, me as well. There was also one signed "Relient K" and another from "Adam Young", but that's just my parents being creative as always.
I must admit though, I missed quite the party...Santa, Adam Young, the Relient K members, Mickey Mouse, Donald and Daisy Duck, and Demi Lovato all in the living room last night placing gifts underneath the tree...

Anyway, the best part of Christmas morning is watching the faces of everyone else as they open the gift I gave them. To know it brings them joy makes me feel warm on the inside. After the seemingly endless assortment of boxes and bows had been sorted out and their contents revealed, there were two more gifts. The one for my brother was a set of Garage Band Jam Packs (all you computer-savvy folks out there, I'm sorry but I have no idea what that is) and as he opened them, his expression reminded me of when he was little and had just discovered how to ride a bicycle. Then I received one last gift. A custom green Relient K PRS Se1 guitar. I literally was near to tears. It's the first actual guitar I've ever played, let alone the first one to call my own. I could never even dream of affording it myself. The worship leader at church lent an old amplifier to me until I could purchase my own (if you're reading this, thanks so much, Ethan!) so I spent near two hours jamming out rather badly to each and every song I could think of to play. It was amazing.
My brother also opened New Super Mario Brothers Wii or something like that. The four of us played that for hours this afternoon. My brother's the only very good gamer in the family, but it was a fun, laughter-filled experience I'll never forget. We also read The Christmas Story, which is a childrens adaptation of Luke 2. We've read it every year since I was 2 years old.
It brought back that rush of nostalgia, and for the first time, I felt like it really was Christmas again.

Today, we celebrate the birth of a Baby. You may celebrate by reading from Scripture, singing carols, exchanging gifts, or simply spending time with family and those you love. But however you do it, keep Jesus at the center.

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'"

Merry Christmas,
~Lola

A Breath Of Winter Air

Dear Bloggers,
We are gathered here today in memory of this blog, who died of neglect and choked to death on the accumulated dust. It was a faithful blog, always letting me ramble, never judging me for failing in my use of markup, and very rarely did it ever mess up and post multiple times.
So sorry about all that.

Things here were so...indescribable. Ever since my cousin arrived, things got insanely busy. Between my studies, his trying to adjust to a new sleep schedule, trying to show him America in 4 weeks, the holidays, and the church Christmas program, it's been hard to get a breath in.

My cousin was not what I expected. I somehow thought he'd be a grown-up Christopher Robin. Prim and proper and slightly boring. I was far off in my assumption. He was exciting, and fun to be around, and made peanut butter no bake cookies. He played video games (it's been months since I had played video games), board games, helped me with my guitar, decorated for Christmas, and made gingerbread cookies with me. It's funny how you can not meet someone your entire life, and after a month cry so much when you say goodbye. He says he'll come back to visit again next year. He has to. He didn't see our town's giant plastic mouse on this visit.

The church Christmas program is next Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I'm singing in the choir. I get to hit a high G, which is challenging, but fun nonetheless. I like it. I'm a second soprano, so I don't have the hardest parts. And I love singing. The only thing I don't like is the people in the choir. The director is married to the first soprano (who I swear could sing opera) so she gets solos. She's friends with this alto (who I extremely dislike because she is so self-centered [and I have to stand behind her....I contemplated the distance between my choir folder and her head last week...but then I decided that would be childish]) she's friends with her so the alto gets solos too. And the alto is friends with this other alto who is absolutely horrible. She literally insults everybody to their face, and then turns around and smiles sweetly and leads worship Sundays. But I'm complaining. I'm not in choir for socializing, I'm in it to spread the good news of Christmas, so I should keep that as my goal and not get distracted by judging others.

Thanksgiving was fun. My whole family made it with Phil a week early. Then a week later on the actual day, we watched the parade, then went to the Pastor's house and played games and ate the actual dinner. That was enjoyable.

The day after, I had to wake up early. Not for sales, but to get Phil to the airport for his early morning flight. Along the way we stopped and did go shopping as soon as Jo-Ann Fabrics opened. A particular item was $200 off. We proudly drove away with the last one in the whole store. After dropping Phil off at the airport, I went to the mall. I needed a shirt for the Christmas program, but I ended up only finding one and it was far too expensive. I wanted to go to Hot Topic to get some new arm warmers, but it was so crowded that I decided it could wait for that. The only Black Friday excitement I ran into was the front window of Macy's was shattered. I'm not sure how or why, but it was. And there were police and caution tape. I think it was a mannequin that got pushed through it, but I heard people saying it was a person. But that's how rumors begin, so I would rather just leave it at a mannequin. Less violent.

It's been a week since then. Life's finally slowing down. Yesterday the first few snowflakes fell softly. By last night there were two inches of snow on the ground. I went out on the front porch to turn off the Christmas lights, and paused for a breath of winter air.
I love Christmas time.

So, I promise I'll make this thing live again. There's magic in the air, something exciting is bound to happen.

Here's to Peace, Love, & Virtual Funerals
~Lola