We had a good Thanksgiving dinner. Rhianna helped me prepare the meal. She loves to help cook. I really enjoy the fun things we get to do together. Since my battle with cancer some of my biggest fears are not seeing her grow up or her maybe not remembering me when I'm gone. So I try to savor every moment I have with her as if it might be our last. I still have fond memories of my grandmother and I want her to do the same with me.
So we got together at my house with my side of the family. A lot smaller crowd than usual. I am use to having 25+ people. Since we moved we don't combine the families anymore we don't have enough space. Before the move we had the all the dinners at my house. But I really enjoyed spending time with my family, especially my Mom.
Finally got a christmas tree put up... Not mine of course I went to get mine out of storage and at some point someone decided they needed half a tree. Go figure lol. But I was able to find another one in storage so it worked out fine. It was a lot smaller than my other tree but it works.
We were laughing the other night about some of our tree experiences. One of the funniest was one year after taking great pains decorating the tree which was a live tree. I asked Roger to cut the twig at the top so I could tie my bow. But apparently I wasn't clear because he cut the top completely out of it. It went from a twig sticking out of the top to a V shape in 2 seconds flat. LOL But in his funny way he managed to fix the problem. Yes he wired the piece back to the top. I was afraid the entire time the piece would fall out. But it never did. It did turn brown though.
At first I was a little discouraged about the holidays because things have really been slow for Roger this year especially the last few months. The jobs coming in have trickled to almost nothing. (construction is not the trade to be in right now.) We have always gone overboard in the gift giving area. Always buying expensive gifts, giving large amounts of money, trying to do more than the year before. But as the holiday started to approach I began to realize this year we were not able to do things like we have in the past. And to be honest I was upset.
I have been really praying about things and asking God to just humble me and to just show me the plan he has for us this season. I have come to realize I have put so much emphasis on the wrong things. It's not what gift I could get for who. Or did I spend enough. There's not any gift I or anyone else could buy that would measure up to the gift that God has given us. And thats the gift of eternal life through His son Jesus Christ. I am ashamed to say that in the past I have had so much focus on so many of the wrong things that I haven't really been celebrating the true meaning of christmas.
So this year my focus will be on the things that truly matter. First and foremost The Birth of my savior Jesus Christ and the things he has blessed me with. Such as my family, my home(even though we have tons left we need to do) and my health (I've been in remission for 3years&5 months). I thank God for giving all of us another year together. I'm really looking forward to spending time with my family and hopefully starting new traditions.
I guess you can say I may have already started some new traditons ....Roger, Tosha, Rhianna and I went to the Spartanburg Christmas parade last night. First time I've ever seen it at night. Roger don't usually go. I really enjoyed the time we all spent together. Rhianna really enjoyed the parade. she was so excited she was reading the names of the banners etc... when the bands would come by she said her heart was rumbling she really had a great time.
We had parked in the parking garage so when we left we exited out the rear onto magnolia St. We passed the Soup Kitchen at the Presb. Church Rhianna recalled seeing them in the parade.. she ask what a soup kitchen was and I told her. She was so sweet... she said she loved to cook and wanted to go help them prepare the meals for the hungry people. I was so touch by her wanting to help even though she was only 6. She's my special Angel.. I see God using her one day in that capacity. she has a big heart..
We're also planning to go as a family to the Bethlehem Walk at Holston Creek on Sunday night. I'm really looking forward to it. I went last year and I would recommend to anyone who hasn't been to go.
Simple things and special memories....
