Christmas Wishes

Hello friends! Merry Christmas! Did you enjoy your Christmas? I hope so.

Mine was lovely -- my brother and sister-in-law are in town, my granddad and his wife drove over to our place Christmas morning, and I got to ride a horse on Christmas Eve! It was a treat.

I know I'm technically a couple days late with the Christmas wishes, but I didn't think anyone would mind a little break between finals week and blogging about Christmas, right? Plus, I was busy as a bee sewing and crocheting Christmas presents. My mother had my nose to the grindstone. (Love her though!)

As great and fun as my Christmas was, it's not 24/7 peaches and cream and puppy dogs, if you know what I mean. I think everyone experiences this. When you get a lot of people with pasts (relatives) and put them in a pretty small place (your house) and then make them all stay in that place and interact (Christmas Eve, Christmas, parties -- you name it), eventually, even the sweetest group is gonna have some scuffles.

In light of that, I hope that you can find the patience and peace that you need in loving and understanding your family members. I only have one brother, and though sometimes I'd like to wring his (not so scrawny anymore) little neck, I love him and my sister-in-law to pieces. They really are some of the most important people in my life.

So here's to finishing out this fantastic season with both your brain and your families intact and thriving. Cheers!

Photo of the Week: Pups & Poultry

One of those title items gets eaten -- guess which one?

SICK! We don't eat puppies. Only over-sized fowl.

This was my Thanksgiving -- my Grandad and his wonderful wife did everything, so all we had to do was eat and help clean up. Sweet deal, huh? Plus I got to play with their pups, Princess and Sophie, all day long. Livin' the life, I tell you.

How was your Thanksgiving?

Conviction: Great Expectations

It will probably happen everyone at one time or another. You will sit down and think "Now, how did I get started in this in the first place?" For me, it was as I began to consider the thought that service is one of those things that I really love, but honestly, where does that come from?

The same can be said of other people. What makes some people, like Mother Teresa, so keen on helping and loving others? It might seem that the first and most obvious and correct answer to a question like that is "Duh, Stephanie -- God. He gave Mother Teresa a gift in taking care of his sheep." Hey now, no need to be rude! I'm just kidding. (Mostly.)

While I agree, yes, God gives us gifts and he will bless the work we do for him with those gifts, I think that the way that God makes us (which can also be interepreted as which gifts he gives us) determines us to like certain things. Generally, if you are good at writing, you like it, yes? Yes.

But environment plays a part in that too. If you are around people who tell you that writing is repulsive and you should never, ever do it, what is the likelihood that you will do it? Not so good.

Here's where it makes sense to me: I like service. I have as long as I can remember, but as long as I can remember serving, I have been surrounded by adults who are eager to serve and to serve with generous and joyful attitudes. The two adults who showed me this the most often? Well, they also happen to be my parents and I cannot believe how grateful I am that I had such great influences and support in doing something that I would finally realize I loved. My parents, because of their love for God and the people around them, expected me to love God and the people around me, too. The lifestyle that they created for my brother and I fostered that and now look what we have to show for it.

So today? I'm grateful for opportunities to serve, and parents who had great expectations for me in them.