Holidays

We are having a wonderful holiday season. My friend put together a 24 days of Christmas Devotional with songs and stories for each day of December leading up to Christmas. We weren't as faithful in reading them every night as I had hoped, but I did like what we did. That, in addition to reading"The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" that we got from cousins, we were able to keep the feeling of Christmas pretty well. On Christmas Eve we were invited to a potluckish dinner at a friend's house. We ate, enjoyed company, and read from Luke chapter 2.

I have been purging lately, so I didn't want to just fill up the house with things this year for Christmas. The kids got a lot of needed clothing and one or two special toys. They have been playing chess on the computer lately so they received a real chess game so that they didn't have to stare at the screen as much. Steven has been asking for a pan flute for months and he finally got one. A family in the ward holds an annual Christmas fireside/concert at their homes. Steven and I decided that next year we will do a Christmas duet so he can perform on his pan flute. He has been practicing every day since he got his flute.

Dad, Sage, and Hyrum came up for Christmas Day. We ate good food, Skyped with family far away, and watched A Christmas Carol. A fun and peaceful day.

Steven is now a Tenderfoot in scouts, he is only one camp out away from becoming a Second Class too.

Inspiration ?!?

Steven received a copy of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid for Christmas. Sage stole it and read quite a bit of it laughing along the way. Of course that is the perfect way to get someone motivated to read a book (generally, curiosity will inspire an observer to read the book and find out what is so funny). I read some of it too. Unfortunately I did not find it funny at all; most of the humor comes from unjust parents and an unfair school system, and I just get frustrated with both.

But Steven has been going through it. Today he found his Journal and began writing in it. Now I have been trying to encourage him to do this for MONTHS. Then all of the sudden, this silly book does what I have been unsuccessful in doing.

Go figure! Such is life.

Simple Generosity

I am simply amazed and humbled by the sweet generosity of people. A few weeks ago a gentleman from the ward approached me and asked if I would have my children write a Christmas wish list. He said that he liked to do "something special" for the primary children at the ward Christmas party. I was curious and stunned. What could he possible do with a wish list from all the primary families in the ward. He couldn't possible intend to fill ALL those wishes ... could he? Well, the ward Christmas party came and went. It was a wonderful event, but nothing "special." The brother was not even in attendance.

But tonight the doorbell rang. Two boxes of packages were sitting all forlorn out in the darkness. Some of these packages looked suspiciously like the items on the list. Accompanying the packages were gift receipts, and two gift cards, one for Safeway and another for Walmart with a note that said "for stocking stuffers."

What a wonderful blessing! Money is so tight this year with the move and still trying to find a renter for the Lakeside house. We would have been OK. But this is definitely going to help.
I am not nearly so kind or generous. Even if I had the money, would it even occur to me to obtain a list, do the shopping, wrapping, and delivering? Would I even think of passing out $20 bills? This would be great too and a lot less stress on me, but to go to these lengths? I do not have the means of doing something like this for others, but I can be a lot more generous with what I do have. I have been humbled.