If you're a bird, I'm a bird

I'm going to be real, which is what I typically try to be. Our happy family photos on facebook are leggit. Let's be honest, not every moment is pretty smiles though. Typically society filters and guards what we put out there for people to know and see.  Our family felt called to "go out the box" for Christmas this year. We sacrificed time with our extended family to go bless people we didn't know. Instead of buying gifts for people, we rented a hotel room and went to Greenville, SC for family-time and ministry. Our friend, Stephen Jeffrey, told us about Miracle Hill Ministries so we made that our mission for Christmas.  As we were driving up to the Marriott that we found on Hotwire.com for $70/night, there was a Walgreens on the corner. I said, "I like when I see a drug store close by."  Joseph thought I was joking, but I was serious. Little did I know how frequently we would be visiting it.   Our gift wrapping opportunity  at Greenville...

As I get older I'm noticing I do not anticipate Christmas quite like I did as a child, or even a few years ago.  In my opinion, that's not necessarily a bad thing. To me there are so many other priorities that trump decorating the house and sending out Christmas cards. Those things seem trivial compared to salvation and eternity. My mind is thinking about my Chinese friends that are still living in oppression on the other side of the world.   I'm thinking about family members that grew up in the church and know about Jesus, but do not really  know  Him. ...by their fruit you will recognize them.  Matthew 7:20 My heart is filled with compassion for the 18 girls in my class and their families. Praying that I can be "a witness in the silences when words aren't enough".    I'm thinking about the Christians who go to church every week, but go just to see people or chat in the foyer. The people that walk in and out each week witho...

Christmas was yesterday. Whew, I'm tired. We had 4 Christmases starting Tuesday night. Christmas Eve- my brother's house with his family, my parents, and dad's side of the family Christmas morning- my husband and children Christmas afternnon- my grandma's house with my mom's side of the family Christmas evening- Joe's parents and his brother and family Christmas morning Lincoln didn't know it was different than any other morning. We ate breakfast casserole at the table. We didn't leave any gifts out so we had to usher him into the living room to open gifts. We are not telling Lincoln and Grey that there is a Santa Claus and I think gifts left out is a sign that Santa Claus has visited. We did leave a box out with a B teepee, but we didn't set it up. It was my idea to have him be present for the building of it so he could see the transformation. It has a lantern in the ceiling with lights. He loved it and crawled in immediately.  B teep...