Christmas Eve. A friend without family joined us for lunch.
Ice skating.
Verses of the promised Messiah's coming and candles lit. A meal eaten by candlelight. A sparkling juice toast. One gift per child.
Gifts to a family with a baby in the hospital.
Tomorrow we celebrate some more.
May He be present in our celebrations every day..

There are many days when I just don't know what to do about my daughter's attitude. She gets so angry at her brothers and sister and at me and her dad. She stomps and shouts and lashes out. I reprimand, talk through a right attitude, quote verses, dole out all kinds of discipline/consequences, send her to her room, pray with her. It's such a battle. I feel so inadequate for it, so desperate, bombarding heaven with pleas for help. I try to keep on until I sense some softening. It's such a challenge to help her get out of herself and see more clearly what she's doing and how it falls short of God's desires for her, though He offers forgiveness and a fresh start. I try to help her put herself in our shoes or in her own shoes some day when she's in different circumstances, when she's a mom (which she dearly wants to some day be, as she can be very nurturing and loving) someday, for example. More than anything, it's the heart, the true self, that I pray God will help me connect with in her, that He will get a hold of. Her temptation is to do just enough to look okay to herself, better than others, she judges, but as to true brokenness, she's generally not there. It's not brilliance, material success or fame, not beauty or talent, I pray for for her, but transformation, the same I pray for and yearn and need every day in my own life.

Here's the peeps. We had fun at Ernie's chaplains' Christmas party and we're looking forward to the festivities this week with church and school programs. But in all the activity, we don't want to lose sight of the  true beauty of this holiday, that He came to earth as a child to save us from sins. We celebrate Jesus the Savior whose unfathomable love, whose perfect gift of Himself, is indescribable joy and peace that passes understanding.

 You really do get better with practice. Maybe it doesn't happen right away. Maybe it takes lots and lots of practice, but you will see improvement. Eventually. Better skating. Better spelling and reading. Better understanding of math. Better piano playing. Kids have to keep practicing so many things as they're learning all kinds of new skills. Being patient with them and realizing that we can grow in our weak areas as well, as we practice too--there's the adults' challenge. And to enjoy the whole process. That's a sheer gift. One that doesn't happen every day. One I pray for more of. May God give me patience and joy in the moment, willingness to try and try again, and to get back up when I fall down and pull them up when they do. And then there's those times when they're the ones pulling up me.