Graditude

As I was working in the house last night enjoying the Christmas in the air, I begin to think of Christmas past and was once again completely overwhelmed by God's goodness in my life. So I thought I would share some pictures and tell you a little about that memory so you could understand maybe a little why I get so much enjoyment from be a "Keeper at Home" esp. this time of year.

My life was not always like this. Once upon a time my brother and I lived with a very strong single mother. My mother is the epitome of strength. My father died tragically when I was ten. She was left with a huge emotional hurt that to this day I can't fathom being in her shoes. So I remember her going out and finding us a place to live. It is kind of funny to ride through town with me as I tell "we lived there"....."oh yeah, we lived there" and on and on. So on this one particular Christmas we were in a rental house and I can recall that the Landlord was not too reliable to say the least. The pipes in that old house would freeze all the time. Mom was fed up, especially after the pipes froze and burst at Christmas. So after not getting any help from the owner we loaded up all of our things including the Christmas tree, fully decorated, in the back of a truck. I will never forget holding that tree as we crept across town to my Aunt and Uncle's house. It was a hoot!

So, as I was enjoying my home I was thinking of this time and how life is so different now. I think that is why I am so content with this home. Greg and I bought this land 6 months before we married. We purchased a new mobile home to go on it. A small 14x60 Fleetwood. We were in our castle. We were happy. Our plan was to live in it five years then build a house. That is exactly what happened. To top it off we sold that mobile home for exactly what we paid for it new! Never lost a dime and that is amazing seeing as how everyone declared that "those things just depreciate!" I know they do, but we were blessed. So we built our home and have been here every since. Nothing is like coming up the driveway to me. I just love it! It is home and has been since 1992. Amazing coming from a girl who lived in at least 15 different houses the first 20 years of her life. Needless to say, I was counting my blessings while taking some snapshots of the house. I did not decorate everything that I could have this year. I have a toddler, remember. But, I have got some things done and the family is enjoying it.

So I post these not as a brag but as a praise to God for what blessings he has given. For where he has brought me from, for the husband he gave me, for the children he gave me and for the family and friends I am blessed with. By the way, a wonderful man came into our lives and married my Mom when I was 14 years old. He brought stability and joy like we had not know before.

Here is one of my Nativity Scenes. Greg bought it for me Christmas '02

The snowman tree in my kitchen

Our live tree. We always go to the tree farm on Thanksgiving.

Cowboy with his "Cowboy" tree ( that Janie re-decorates)

My MIL painted this for us when we got married. I have enjoyed adding names to it as the babies came. : )

My little songbird playing the piano where my growing collection of Nativity scenes are.

So we will not make the cover of The Teaching Home with this picture. I was TRYING to get one of those picture perfect poses~

So there is a lot we did not do. I did not put my tree in my room. I did not get the musical tree decorated (it don't actually make music, I have music themed ornaments) Jessie's pretty pink tree did not get up but we are enjoying what we were able to do considering the fact that we have all been sick for the last few weeks and Jenna was once again in the hospital with the croup. We are blessed. We are together. We have our health today and we have the Lord Jesus in our hearts and home.

One more picture.Here is my Mr. Steady coming across the barnyard. I love that man!

Merry Christmas! ( if I don't get another blog post up before then.)