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Grace is…a delicious Thanksgiving
feast shared with family, having my youngest sister home even for a brief visit, Mom’s homemade apple pie, wanting to be a better
servant of the Lord, working at being more Christ-like by doing small things
with great love, genuine encouragement and inspiration from those who love you,
the sense to stay in on Black Friday, playing with your youngest nephew, the
vulnerability it takes to be honest in kind and gentle ways…
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Thanksgiving Across
the Years This Thanksgiving was a really nice one for Kevin and me. We began the day by going to Mass to
celebrate the ultimate feast, the Eucharist (the word literally means “thanksgiving”). Later we headed over to my sister and
brother-in-law’s house for the family meal and visiting. The food was delicious and the quality time
together very enjoyable! To read about
some of our past Thanksgiving adventures, mishaps, and traditions, click here.
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It’s Your Fault! Yesterday,
my sister and I broke into a song about rubber duckies that my mom used to sing
to us when we were little. My other
sister and my mom looked at each other and made faces at us. I elbowed my mom, and informed her: “It’s
your fault!” And really it is. She’s the one who stayed home with us when we
were little and sang to us, danced with us, read to us, played with us, and inspired a love for
little people that she passed on to each one of us.
The song my sister and I were singing is from
Sesame Street. You might recognize it.
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10 Facts about Advent I happened upon this article the other day, and it’s a great starting point for remembering what Advent is about. Here’s a hint: it has
nothing at all to do with the craziness of Black Friday, but is an important
precursor to Christmas and the prelude to Good Friday. The actual Advent wreath that Kevin and I have and will be putting out this weekend is a very special one that was made by a friend of ours who is hardcore about spreading hope.
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Run that by me again! Sunshine has a very active imagination. Sometimes, I’m not sure right away if she’s
telling me about something that has actually happened or if it’s another one of
her pretend stories. Either way, I try
to listen closely and follow along. Not
too long ago, she told me that her grandma and grandpa don’t like rabbits, so
she doesn’t either. I had no way of
verifying that, but since her grandparents do have a farm, I deduced it was at
least possible. This week, she was a
good two minutes into her story before I figured out that we were in a real
world with real people fairy tale. What
tipped me off? Suddenly she was the one
driving mommy and daddy’s van to go find her mom, who had left her at school
while she went to Walmart.
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Last Night Kids concept of time is amusing. Lately, Sunshine typically begins and/or ends
each of her stories with “last night.” This
has occasionally helped me in the department of distinguishing fact from
fiction, though, with her it can be a very convincing mix of the two. Knowing that her parents had trouble with the
minivan’s alarm going off by itself, I was incredibly impressed when in
subsequent weeks, she spun a very animated, action-packed, high adrenalin story
about a school bus needing to be fixed and babies crying because of a loud
alarm that went off when a battery died.
Kevin was visiting us at the time and got to witness this based on a
real life event story, and we were both amused and awed. Just remember, your children are always recording audio and video whether you want them to or not.
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The Cookie Caper Question
I have a tendency to take things personally and assume that people think the
worst of me. Here’s a hypothetical
situation that closely resembles my line of thinking: If Kevin were to ask me
why cookies were being stolen from the cookie jar in a household of three or
more individuals all capable of reaching the container, I would typically
assume that he was informing me of a problem while at the same time accusing me
of stealing the cookies and/or blaming me for not having a better system for
keeping track of the baked goods in question even if this wasn’t at all his
intent or line of thinking. (Truth be
told, I do find it very difficult to resist the urge to consume baked goodies
when they are left out or easily accessible.)
Like most people,
I prefer to be informed of a problem and asked questions rather than
immediately accused of being the culprit when I’m just as likely a suspect as
the next person. If the cookies have
some type of chocolate in them, it might be most efficient and also highly
likely to assume that I have been one
of the people responsible for the disappearance and consumption of some of the
cookies. Though it would be unfair and
presumptuous to believe that I am the
only guilty party involved in the case of the missing cookies, it isn’t
unjust, given my appreciation for goodies, to think that I’m among the likely
suspects…
I hope you had a
wonderful Thanksgiving and that you are willing to share your holiday baked
goods with whoever comes to call this Advent and Christmas.
Check out Jen Fulwiler’s tradition of
7 Quick Takes Friday at her tremendously popular blog Conversion Diary.
