It's Official

I hereby declare that I 100% unequivocally, passionately, and resolutely hate Christmas. Go ahead. Excommunicate me. Tell me what a horrible person I am. Tell me how angry the baby Jesus would be at me for feeling this way, much less admitting it in print. However, I'd be willing to bet that YOU did not spend your Christmas in the ER. Oh, yeah. Because I did.

Abigail woke up this morning with a 103 degree fever. She's been sick off and on for a few weeks now, and we thought she was coming out of the woods. Well, last night she just got really fussy after we got home from the Christmas eve service at our church. Very unlike herself. We had a hard time getting her to settle down to sleep, and she woke up quite a few times throughout the night. When we awoke this morning, she was on fire. Suspecting it might be an ear infection, we called the pediatrician and she told us to go on to the ER. Apparently it's very dangerous for young babies to have fevers that high. So, off we went to spend $900 and 3 hours of our blessed holiday at the hospital, all for some not-so-very-nice doctor to tell us she was fine and to go home. 'Tis the freakin' season.

So, I've never believed in curses before, but after today I am starting to think that we are under some sort of a Christmas Curse. I keep telling myself that next year things will be better. However, I've been saying that for 3 years now. And each year I tell myself that, and each year I have this sinking suspicion that things are getting worse!

So, as I've decided to not participate in flu shots next year, I am also deciding not to participate in Christmas next year. Can I do that? Is that even legal for Christians? Can I opt out? How 'bout a nice cruise instead? We can just tell the kids that's what the Good Lord and Santa would want us to do.

December 26th, you can NOT come fast enough.

Kissing Flu Shots Buh-Bye

So, the kids and I have been sick for over a month now. We've been through a couple rounds of antibiotics (which have had absolutely NO effect), and I'm now convinced that what we've had for the past month is the flu.

And you wanna know the funny thing about all this??? 4 out of 6 of us had the flu shot!!!!!

I've had it. I'm done. This will be the last year I make my family suffer the flu shot. Boy, won't my kids be happy! Seriously, every year we get them, and EVERY SINGLE. BLASTED. STINKIN' YEAR WE END UP WITH THE FLU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think we're the only people I know that even get the flu shot. And we're also the only people I know that get sick from Thanksgiving until Christmas. So next year, I'm gonna do a little experiment and stick it the pharmaceutical manufacturers, and tell everyone I know to just say "NO!" to the flu shot.

Suck on that, Merck!!!

For more flu fun, I've already Googled for your reading pleasure, "flu shot doesn't work." Knowledge is power, people.

Favorite Christmas Specials, Anyone?

Well, this blog's been pretty quiet lately (and I'm lookin' at you, Reader!), so I'm asking you for some responses on this one. I want you to list your top five favorite Christmas shows of all time in the comment section.

So in the spirit of Christmas, and also a little bit of desperation and paranoia, here are mine in order of favorite-ness:

1. A Christmas Story
2. A Charlie Brown Christmas
3. Elf
4. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
5. Shrek the Halls

What are your faves?

Bonhoeffer on Advent

"Celebrating Advent means learning how to wait. Waiting is an art which our impatient age has forgotten. We want to pluck the fruit before it has had time to ripen. Greedy eyes are soon disappointed when what they saw as luscious fruit is sour to the taste. In disappointment and disgust they throw it away. The fruit, full of promise, rots on the ground. It is rejected without thanks by disappointed hands.

The blessedness of waiting is lost on those who cannot wait, and the fulfillment of the promise is never theirs…

Who has not felt the anxieties of waiting for the declaration of friendship or love? The greatest, the deepest, the most tender experiences in all the world demand patient waiting…

Not all can wait—certainly not those who are satisfied, contented, and feel that they live in the best of all possible worlds! Those who learn to wait are uneasy about their way of life, but yet have seen a vision of greatness in the world of the future and are patiently expecting its fulfillment. The celebration of Advent is only possible to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come.”

(Edwin Robertson, ed. and trans., Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Christmas Sermons, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 20-21).

Christmas is Just Around the Corner and I'm...Excited???

We're already just about two weeks into December and, in typical Christmastime fashion, I have: a sinus infection that turned into a raging ear infection--complete with fluid behind my right eardrum that refuses to drain, leading to about a 30% temporary loss of hearing; kids--including the baby--with sinus infections and very hot pink eyes; a broken washing machine; a broken vacuum cleaner; a broken oven; my wonderful pre-lit SPNCT upon which entire sections of lights keep blowing out, branch by branch--I am afraid by Christmas it will be a pre-delit tree; a misplaced (read "lost") check; and, oh, and absolutely still no clue how we're going to survive this month financially and make Christmas happen to boot.

And yet, I find that I am actually kind of excited about Christmas this year.

*screech* "What the...???"

I know it's kind of strange considering the past few Christmases one can typically find me grumbling and complaining in the Bah-Humbug Lot along with Charlie Brown, the Grinch and ol' Uncle Ebenezer. And this year, as I look at the aforementioned circumstances and forward to our impending Christmas doom, I realize that the forecast isn't much brighter than it has been in previous yuletide seasons. In fact, I would say that things seem even tighter this year as we still have two hideously ugly vacant rental homes tied to our backs, which do not look like they're going to sell any time this century.

This time of year, I always find myself wishing that we could simply call the powers that be and, in the spirit of Christmas and holiday cheer, say, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" and they be okay with that.

But, alas, that's not the world in which we live.

So, why on earth am I excited?

I am excited about the potential we have here. The opportunity. I am excited about what I get to see God do this year. I believe our circumstances are so shoddy that only God can help us. We have no where to look but up. No where to turn to but Him. In fact, I believe that we have all the necessary ingredients for a true Christmas miracle. Like, straight out of a movie. Let's examine them, shall we?

A decent family down on their luck? Check.

A plethora of tiny urchins? Check.

A man who has a positive attitude, generous heart, and could be mistaken for George Bailey? Check.

A curmudgeonly, bitter, angry character who's in desperate need of a heart transplant? Meh. Check.

I jest. But I am actually looking forward to trading in all my stodgy, stale, and materialistic Christmas traditions in order to give God the opportunity to truly move. Listen, I'm certainly not expecting a bail-out. I don't deserve it. We've made our beds. God owes us no favors. I guess I just realize that if we are going to be able to pay our bills AND give the kids at least a gift or two under the tree, that we are going to have to witness a true Christmas miracle. I never thought I'd feel this way, but it truly is a blessed place to be when you have no where to go, but God.

And to top it all off, in the midst of these cruddy circumstances, I feel like my heart may actually be growing a size or two. In each of the aforementioned scenarios, I find myself thankful for God's provision. I am thankful that my washing machine broke AFTER I extended the warranty, thus making the repair completely no charge. I am thankful for friends and family, who are completely willing and able to loan us their vacuum cleaners until we can afford to buy a new one of our own. I am so very thankful that I am able to stay home with my children and take care of them while they are sick, that I am not working and leaving them in the care of someone else. I am thankful that, even though my oven may be broken, at least the stove top still works. I am thankful that, even though things have been tight, we've never missed a meal. And for a self-professed foodie, that is quite a big deal.

And about those houses...Hey, at least we can give our first two daughters homes as wedding gifts. In 20 or so years.

I am able to see God's provision in all of this junk. It may not be exactly what I want or how I want it. But it's there. I can't deny it. God is providing. I'm finding that it really is true that God is in even the worst of circumstances. On my way to the urgent care facility the other morning, my ear on fire, I found myself praising God that I even had a facility like this to go. It was affordable, in close proximity, and clean. I mean, what do people do who don't have access to such common things to us as antibiotics? Seriously. Things that I take for granted. Things I think I am entitled to.

My blasted sense of entitlement has taken a bloody beating this year. I'm not looking to Him for what I feel He owes me. For what I feel I deserve. I don't deserve jack. Everything I have is a gift. I call upon His help because of Who He is. Because of His great love. His eternal mercy.

God, thank You for saving a wretch like me.

And that, my friends, is why I am excited. I want to encourage any of you who might be stressing out over the holidays, worrying about money, and presents, and such. I may not be able to send out fancy Christmas cards this year. I may not be able to do all the festive things that are supposed to boost my Christmas Spirit, yet do nothing but merely end up draining our wallets. But maybe this year, instead of complaining about all the things I don't have, and all the things I wish I had, and all the things I didn't get...maybe, just maybe, for once, I will be completely content, satisfied...even happy...with a roof over our heads, food on the table, friends and family by my side, and our health and sanity intact. Maybe even this year, a true Christmas miracle has already occurred.

A changed heart.

What more could anyone ever need?

Isn't that what this time of year is all about anyway???

God bless us. Everyone.

SHREK THE HALLS

Has anyone seen this yet? The kids and I DVRd it and we can't stop watching it. It's hilarious. I think it's quickly becoming one of my favorite Christmas specials.

Honestly, I think it's because it reminds me of some of my family get-togethers during the holidays. :)