Dear friends and family,
When it comes to "traditional" and commercialized Christmas in Missouri, I'm a lot of a grinch: I groan when I have to hear Christmas music EVERYWHERE for 45 days or more, and I am purely disgusted at the holiday aisles' arrival in September. I have never seen "It's a Wonderful Life," although my mother tried to force our family to watch it at one point. (Thankfully the library's version was a little too well worn.)
I will do nearly anything to escape being stuck in the back of a cold minivan after the Christmas eve service, when our family drives through all of Lebanon to look at all three well-lit houses. I have only ever owned one Christmas CD, although making fun of Aaron Neville's "Silent Night" does provide me with great joy. And I find singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus to be a little overkill, tradition-wise--when it's just my parents and me sitting around the plastic tree with "reindeer" ornaments I made in preschool.
I am happy for and maybe even slightly jealous of everyone who feels otherwise; but to me, the amount of "Christmas" spewed on me from Thanksgiving week til New Year's is only slightly more appealing than vomit. Even on Christmas morning, hearing Luke's account of the birth of Christ (for the 20th time since December 1st) has either 1- my sister and I playing the "how much can you quote" game as Dad reads it, or 2- me giggling hysterically at the narrator's accent when Dad Youtube's the verses.
So, it's GOOD to be away from all that: Just another blessing of being in Ongole, India this year! Simplified Christmas is good, y'all!
Because I don't feel vomited on, I have actually wrapped gifts rather than using gift bags (or the occasional Walmart bag for Dad lol)--for the first time in 5+ years? I have VOLUNTARILY played Christmas music as I wait with my kids for their ride to school. I bought and WILL WEAR a super dorky, $7 Santa outfit on Christmas morning. I even bought ornaments to hang in a couple of the doorways.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the 2 Christmas "functions" our organization has had, simply because they made my family happy. Last night, watching the teens and pre-teens wear their first sarees and dance gracefully was fun, but watching four girls with visual impairments twirl around on stage was beyond beautiful. And then, of course, seeing the "littles" do their dance where none of them are synchronized (as they send a huge grin to "Mom" in the audience) is a pretty precious memory, too.
I remember getting excited over gifts when I was little--but I doubt it can compare to the smiles and giggles of these kiddos when I've given them their MEGAblocks or parachute or said the phrase "Christmas movie." :) Their excitement has led me to go from my original plan of wrapping maybe one gift per kid to wrapping until the paper is gone--just because, if it will get an extra smile, okay, I'll do it! :)
So, dear Facebook friends, I am incredibly happy to be blowing up your newsfeed with photos of my adorable kids during our week of Christmas. Why? Well, since I skipped a step in life and didn't have the opportunity to post 500 engagement and wedding photos, having 20 kids is the most exciting time of my life so far, and I like sharing it. :)
It is an immense blessing, as a mom and otherwise, to be able to shower fun things on my kids--especially for Christmas. It's more of a blessing to know that I can only do so because people who love me--whether they know me or not--and love the Lord--have given these gifts generously. I realize that if I counted all the "thank you's" that I've said in emails, blogs, comments, etc., it would be A LOT. But it still doesn't feel like enough. That's probably what God had in mind though.
So, first: thanks to God for letting me see that this season is beautiful and its purpose is solely honoring Him. And second, thank you all again for making this Christmas special for all my children--but for me as well.
Next up: a zillion photos and videos of Christmas day!
Much love, a former grinch.
When it comes to "traditional" and commercialized Christmas in Missouri, I'm a lot of a grinch: I groan when I have to hear Christmas music EVERYWHERE for 45 days or more, and I am purely disgusted at the holiday aisles' arrival in September. I have never seen "It's a Wonderful Life," although my mother tried to force our family to watch it at one point. (Thankfully the library's version was a little too well worn.)
I will do nearly anything to escape being stuck in the back of a cold minivan after the Christmas eve service, when our family drives through all of Lebanon to look at all three well-lit houses. I have only ever owned one Christmas CD, although making fun of Aaron Neville's "Silent Night" does provide me with great joy. And I find singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus to be a little overkill, tradition-wise--when it's just my parents and me sitting around the plastic tree with "reindeer" ornaments I made in preschool.
I am happy for and maybe even slightly jealous of everyone who feels otherwise; but to me, the amount of "Christmas" spewed on me from Thanksgiving week til New Year's is only slightly more appealing than vomit. Even on Christmas morning, hearing Luke's account of the birth of Christ (for the 20th time since December 1st) has either 1- my sister and I playing the "how much can you quote" game as Dad reads it, or 2- me giggling hysterically at the narrator's accent when Dad Youtube's the verses.
So, it's GOOD to be away from all that: Just another blessing of being in Ongole, India this year! Simplified Christmas is good, y'all!
Because I don't feel vomited on, I have actually wrapped gifts rather than using gift bags (or the occasional Walmart bag for Dad lol)--for the first time in 5+ years? I have VOLUNTARILY played Christmas music as I wait with my kids for their ride to school. I bought and WILL WEAR a super dorky, $7 Santa outfit on Christmas morning. I even bought ornaments to hang in a couple of the doorways.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the 2 Christmas "functions" our organization has had, simply because they made my family happy. Last night, watching the teens and pre-teens wear their first sarees and dance gracefully was fun, but watching four girls with visual impairments twirl around on stage was beyond beautiful. And then, of course, seeing the "littles" do their dance where none of them are synchronized (as they send a huge grin to "Mom" in the audience) is a pretty precious memory, too.
I remember getting excited over gifts when I was little--but I doubt it can compare to the smiles and giggles of these kiddos when I've given them their MEGAblocks or parachute or said the phrase "Christmas movie." :) Their excitement has led me to go from my original plan of wrapping maybe one gift per kid to wrapping until the paper is gone--just because, if it will get an extra smile, okay, I'll do it! :)
So, dear Facebook friends, I am incredibly happy to be blowing up your newsfeed with photos of my adorable kids during our week of Christmas. Why? Well, since I skipped a step in life and didn't have the opportunity to post 500 engagement and wedding photos, having 20 kids is the most exciting time of my life so far, and I like sharing it. :)
It is an immense blessing, as a mom and otherwise, to be able to shower fun things on my kids--especially for Christmas. It's more of a blessing to know that I can only do so because people who love me--whether they know me or not--and love the Lord--have given these gifts generously. I realize that if I counted all the "thank you's" that I've said in emails, blogs, comments, etc., it would be A LOT. But it still doesn't feel like enough. That's probably what God had in mind though.
So, first: thanks to God for letting me see that this season is beautiful and its purpose is solely honoring Him. And second, thank you all again for making this Christmas special for all my children--but for me as well.
Next up: a zillion photos and videos of Christmas day!
Much love, a former grinch.
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