Archive for December, 2009

Finding Christmas

This has been the best Christmas season for me in at least seven years. Why? No stress. I determined to scale back this year, and for the first time in nearly a decade I did just that. Less shopping, less decorating, no crafts, no baking, and (gasp!) no Christmas letter. I intended to write a letter, but I ran out of time, so instead of stressing about it, I decided to put it off until later. Freedom!

In past years I was all Martha: doing, doing, doing all December. There were years when I picked up my Bible one or two times the whole Christmas season. No wonder Christmas had become empty to me. This year I was all Mary: sitting, reading, and listening to Jesus. God has given me some of the greatest blessings this December.

–I did not find Christmas in my Hallmark Keepsake Ornament collection.
–I did not find Christmas in green and red wrapping paper covering toys my kids don’t need.
–I did not find Christmas in a sales flyer or at the mall.

–I found Christmas in a guitar solo of The Little Drummer Boy at church.
–I found Christmas in Caleb reading scripture during a chapel service at school.
–I found Christmas in Kevin when he said something he appreciated about every person in our Sunday School class on Sunday.
–I found Christmas in the teary eye of a single mom when I handed her a gift.
–I found Christmas in Caleb when he bought twelve baby chicks for a family in a developing country.
–I found Christmas in quiet moments reading God’s Word.
–I found Christmas in snuggly moments reading Christmas books to Caleb and Chelsea.
–I found Christmas in Chelsea when she made up a song and sang, “We have lots of presents, but it’s not about presents. It’s all about Jesus.”

Thank you, Jesus, for helping me find peace and love in Christmas and for showing me how to truly enjoy the season instead of just surviving it.

Photo Friday #3

Having a blast taking pics of our everyday stuff!

December 12, 2009–This is where you will find Kevin every morning and almost every night: Studying God’s Word, allowing it to bring change in his life and preparing to share truth with our Sunday School class and anyone willing to listen.

December 13, 2009–Totally posed. But still. I think this is going to be my favorite Christmas picture this year.

December 14, 2009–Chelsea calls these “Reindolf Antelars.”

December 15, 2009–Quack, quack! From the dollar bin at Target.

December 16, 2009–Every week Chelsea and I go to our local public library for story time and book hunting. We usually take out 10-20 children’s books weekly. Most are for Caleb to read, but I usually find a few that Chelsea enjoys. Her favorite this year has been Purplicious. She is not very interested in looking for books yet, so she draws in her notebook while I search for good reads for Caleb. We also check books out of our church library every Sunday.

December 17, 2009–Did I mention we like books? This isn’t all of our books, but it’s most of them. I’m glad I married a person who likes reading as much as I do!

December 18, 2009–Only seven more days, people!

My Life in Journals

Someone asked me a couple months ago when I started writing. I said I was eight. I was wrong. I was nine. I received my first diary on December 25, 1984, and that was the day I started journaling. Notice my first diary has Garfield on the cover. I was obsessed with Garfield at age nine.

Ever since I was asked about the origin of my writing journey, I have thought about locating all of my journals. I scoured the house today and found twenty journals. (During the hunt I accidentally found all my Christmas presents. Sorry, honey! Don’t worry, I didn’t look in the bags, but I think I’m going to be very happy on Christmas Day!) 

Not every page of every journal is filled but most are. I pity the person who ever tries to put the entries in chronological order. I would start one journal, get half way through, lose it, and then start another one. Then I would find the half-filled one and finish it off. What a disorganized mess! But what matters is I put my thoughts down on paper. Journaling has been my life line.

Photo Friday #2

Continuing the quest to document everyday life:

December 5, 2009–Princess Chelsea dancing at her 4th birthday party at her dance studio.

December 6, 2009–Beautiful girl.

December 7, 2009–Pink sparkly shoes are the epitome of girlyness. I was more of a tom-boy growing up, so I’m glad Chelsea is interested in fashion and beauty.

December 8, 2009–The birthday girl with her gorgeous flowers from her Papa H.

December 9, 2009–This little guy holds our Christmas cards and letters. I love going to the mailbox and getting pictures and greetings from family and friends.

December 10, 2009–I can’t believe I am doing this. Command central–my little desk in the kitchen. I love a clean house, but I can be very messy at times. Sometimes life happens and cleaning is put on hold.

December 11, 2009–I found this bracelet at Lifeway yesterday. A few months ago I saw someone wearing a ring with part of a scripture verse on it, and I admired it. When I saw this bracelet, I wanted it because I need to be reminded of its simple yet profound message daily. It’s easy to know this in my head, but the challenge is to believe it in my heart and let it affect every thought and every action I take. The back of the bracelet says, “He is my strength.”

Photo Friday #1

I’m excited about starting Becky Higgins’ Project Life. It’s a very simple approach to documenting your everyday life by taking one picture a day. She’s got a great kit to scrapbook all of the pictures (and it’s very reasonably priced!). Traditional scrapbooking can be so time consuming and overwhelming. With Becky’s kit, you just put your pictures into the page protectors and write a few words about each picture on the journaling cards. And you’re done!

I was so anxious to get started I couldn’t wait until January 1, so I started on December 1. Each Friday I will try to post my pictures from the previous week.

December 1, 2009–I bought these lovely ladies at the Christmas Place in Pigeon Forge, TN, this summer during our vacation. It was the best Christmas store. We stayed at the Inn at Christmas Place right across the street–beautiful! I was so happy to pull these out of the closet for Christmas, and they look wonderful in the living room.

December 2, 2009–This is the way we wash our clothes…so early in the morning! Our washer, which was over 10 years old, died a few months ago. Love my new Whirlpool Duet Steam washer and dryer. I do about 7 loads of laundry per week–not bad at all.

December 3, 2009–One of the perks of living in the south is a few flowers live throughout the winter. When January rolls around, and I’m getting tired of cold, I love to look out the window and see my pansies–colorful, cheerful, and ALIVE.

December 4, 2009–I’m a bookworm, and children’s Christmas books are no exception. Chelsea has been especially interested in our little Christmas book collection this year, which warms my heart.


Follow Me on Twitter

Contact

I would love to hear from you! You can reach me at lisakellywrites (at) gmail (dot) com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 7 other followers

2009 and 2010

Since Sept 2009

  • 12,765 hits
All content and original photographs on Fulfilling My Purpose are copyrighted and may not be reproduced without written consent.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.