Merry Christmas Eve

Happy eve of the day of our Savior's birth.
As today comes to a close I look around,
all the presents are wrapped and under the tree.
The little ones are settled into their beds and I take a minute to think on the night Jesus was born.
In a manger.
Cold, perhaps.
A smelly place to be born
but what beauty must have shone in that place.

A beauty that came as a babe,
a beauty that already was.
A beauty, a baby, to grow into a man;
a man who knows my messed up self.
Knows my imperfections, my flaws, my shortcomings
and yet
chose me.
Loves me.
Loves you.

Tomorrow we'll wake to presents and paper,
pancakes and playing; 
I wonder, 
will I really remember Him.
Will I make tomorrow about Him?
Will my words, my actions, my heart be a reflection of Him?
That baby who grew into a man,
to live,
to die,              for mankind.
For me.

Holy Spirit, fill me, lead me, change me. -m

Aubs and I at Cheraw State Park, SC

Recently...

Just wanted to check in.
All is well here.
We've survived birthdays and family visits, crafts days and now we sit in the midst of college finals with high school finals next week.

Aubry has been having weekly visits with her birth mom and I have done more Christmas sewing than I would have expected.

I've been commissioned to plan a friends wedding, which thrills me, and in the meantime and getting things together for a small campfire gathering to celebrate Steve's birthday this weekend.

It's also that time of year that I begin to look into what our family vacation will look like in the summer of 2013.
With Vaughan and Sarah expecting a new little one early June I'm not sure if we'll take one this year. Also as Vaughan's family grows and our family dynamics change I wonder if Steve, Justin and I will head off on our own adventure. Praying, investigating and pondering a mission trip for the 3 of us. Unsure of where or what that would look like: Belize, Peru, Kenya... I could list a million places but it's what God would have.

I am also excited and nervous to be beginning to teach Hugh School Sunday School this week and also excited about a Parent Open House I have the privilege of helping coordinate for our youth group parents this January. With over 350 or 400 students coming on Wednesday nights I am pumped to be part of reaching their parents, coming along side them and helping to empower and equip them in living, loving and parenting their students. So if you're a local parent of a middle or high schooler keep Jan 30th on your radar.

Well for nor that's it, I'm off to paint my chalkboards.
Shalom friends

6 Things For "Type B" Personalties

I am an A-/B+ personality
I can be very organized in small ways and mostly a cluttery butterfly in the rest.
Organization for me right now is 2 cutely decorated spiral notebooks, one keeping track of my personal life and the other for my current party planning job, now if only I knew where they were... just kidding

Some days I freak out at my clutter,
most days I don't.
One morning years ago while watching the Today Show some organizer said that if you could find something in under 3 minutes you were good. I'm sure she said it more eloquently but that is the gist of it and a theory I stick to.

So, since I can find anything in 3 minutes, I'm good.

But being a stay-at-home home for the past 19 years I thought I'd put together a small list of things that have helped me survive my days.

How To Survive as a "Type B" Stay-at-Home-Mom

1. Make your bed as soon as you get out of it, if not you'll probably go right back into it

2. Start 1 load of laundry every morning, since your a type B personality combining whites/darks and towels makes no difference, then every time you eat "push it through"

3. Think about dinner within the first 30 minutes of your day, that way you can get your meat thawing or int he crockpot before everyone is starving at 5pm

4. Be at peace with creating something over cleaning something

5. About 30 minutes before your man walks through the door freshen yourself up, you may not have showered in a few days and that's OK, do your hair, at least comb it or redo the pony, dust up your make-up or blush or lips and put on something cute- for me it's always jeans and a shirt

6. Know what household chore "settles" you the most and make it a priority; for me it's the floors. I do best when the main areas are vacuumed daily, especially the entryway and kitchen, when they're clean it seems to make all the other stuff not seem so bad

Especially with the holidays in full swing these 6 tips really help me. What top tips help you keep the house in working order?