Merry Christmas!!!

I think this was my favorite Christmas ever. Our church had a Christmas Eve service. Our pastor is a phenomenal, humble teacher, and the music is fantastic on a usual basis. It was no surprise that the Christmas Eve service was extremely worshipful. Our church also overlooks the San Diego Bay, so we got to watch the sunset over the ocean during the service! The sky matched the praise song slides. Afterwards we wend to the Del Mar Holiday of Lights, which is cool lighted scenes of Christmas. We came home and everyone got into their Christmas pjs. After that we read the Nativity story (Sam wanted to crash my glass Mary & Joseph together), & we let the kids open 3 gifts. We only gave the children 3 gifts from Dan & myself, but of course they ended up getting 11 or so total. Because we still wanted to explain the 3 gifts that Jesus received we decided to open 3 on Christmas Eve and then the rest this morning.



This morning was so joyous. Samantha has to get a breathing treatment as soon as she wakes up. As Dan said yesterday, "CF doesn't stop for Christmas". The treatment lasts about 15 minutes, and Timothy was completely patient while we got it done. We had a relaxing and enjoyable time opening gifts, and then the kids just played and played happily. Samantha is crashed out taking an early nap and Timothy is going to get to play his remote control car out in the cul de sac. At 1 today we are going to SEA WORLD!!! How fun is that?

Santa: the anti-Jesus?

No, I'm not trying to be a Santa hater, but I think it's good to remember his very nature (story, background, etc) has been created by a human understanding of righteousness.

This all started when I caught myself humming "Santa Claus is coming to town". It struck me like no other year that Santa's gifts are based on our actions or our ability to be good. In contrast, listen to what kind of gift Jesus gives:

Romans 6:23-For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:16-The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.

How awesome is that promise. The free gift came TO those of us who are bad and on the "naughty" list! And according to Romans 3:23, that's all of us. None of us can deny it's fun to get gifts from "Santa" or anyone else at Christmas, but why stop there when we have a gift that lasts forever!

Saturday night a friend of mine hosted a cookie exchange where we got to hear what everyone does as their Christmas traditions. We are still developing ours, but I came away knowing I want to use the presents under the tree to re-emphasize the free gift of Christ. My poor children are probably going to get sick of hearing every year, "Your dad and I bought these gifts because we love you, not based on how good you are. God came down in the form of a man (initially a baby) for the same reason." My sincere prayer is that my children grasp the infinite love of their Savior, Jesus Christ, and that reality changes their lives forever.

Gerber--Good Customer Service!

I have been a faithful customer to Gerber. After trying several sippy cups when Timothy was 1, this is the one I landed on and found it very satisfactory. When Samantha was born, it became even more convenient because the pink and green come in the same pack. It's just a rule now that the green ones are Timothy's and the pink one's are Sam's. Unfortunately, just like pairs of socks in the dryer, the spill-proof valves seem to go missing! After no luck finding the replacement valves at Walmart or Target, I decided to write Gerber and ask where I could find them before I start searching all over San Diego. Within a day they responded with a list of about 10 stores that supply the valves (all grocery stores). I was quite pleased with that information alone, but then the very last sentence of the letter said, "We would be happy to send you a complimentary pack until you are able to locate these stores." That was about 4 days ago, and they arrived in the mail today! I am a very happy consumer.

Happy Anniversary

As you all know, I haven't blogged in a while. I'm going to try to catch up in chronological order, so I start with our our wedding anniversary that was on November 18th. Seven years ago, I said the following: "I, take you, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part." If there's anything I've learned in 7 years of marriage it's that there's a reason we make the promise BEFORE we enter into marriage. I didn't know when I said...

1. "for better or for worse" how bad the "worse" days would look. They've been ugly.

2. "richer or poorer" that there would be richer days. When do those show up?

3. "in sickness and in health" that I was marrying someone who is a carrier of the exact same Cystic Fibrosis gene that I have and that we would pass it on to our daughter.

4. "to love and cherish" that there would be days I would have to will myself to love and pray hard for a desire to cherish.

5. "until death do us part" that I would die little deaths along the way so that only physical death would separate us.

I still really believed that marriage was all about me, my happiness, and happily ever after. I didn't know the beautiful things Christ was going to teach me about himself through the relationship I have with my husband. Just as James 1:2 states, joy comes from facing trials of many kinds (not being able to avoid trials). I didn't know marriage was a lot more about loving than being loved. So I am thankful I have learned that...

1. the "worse" days keep me humble and dependent on Christ. They also give the "better" days perspective. I love that each word implies that the other exists.

2. richness comes in many forms, not just monetary. And learning to live life within the means of the income we receive is a continual lesson that draws us closer together.

3. presence of disease does not determine the length of someone's life. We have a sovereign Creator who holds life and death in his hands. It is his will that we submit to.

4. Christ, in his sinless state, spent hours praying to love us to the point of death on a cross. Anything short of that would have meant eternity separated from God with no hope of ever getting to him. It is a blessing to pray to the point of loving.

5. if I had it to do over, I would do it again.

Dan, I love you.

Samantha

I meant to post this picture the same day I posted Timothy's Halloween costume. Samantha is the most delightful person to be around. In this picture she is carrying her "Teddy" (don't dare call it a bear). She turns 2 on Saturday, but she is already a talking machine. We saw an airplane on the ground the other day, and she said, "Sam fy aypane clouds" (Sam flies on airplane to the clouds). She adores her brother and since he calls her Sam, she calls herself Sam. I get frowned at when I say Samantha.