Friday, December 2, 2011

The holiday spirit

I have been reluctant to get out the decorations this year for the holidays; life is weighing on my heart, and part of me wonders if by getting out the decorations I'm going to deal with it-or mask them with pretty ribbons and bows. I'm not a grinch by any means, but a realist, and someone who wears their heart on their sleeve. There are people hurting, both near and far, and frankly it makes me think about the true meaning of the holidays. I am not sure quite what this is leading up to, but as with how I've chosen to live my life thus far, I'm going to see where it takes me.

We've had a child staying with us for awhile now. Her mom is laid up with a broken ankle and wrist, and instead of her being passed around from home to home, we invited her here to stay. Its amazing to me how another child fits right in with all the noise, but somethings never take the place of mom. Robert is loving and kind, in that he's allowed this child to stay here, and has opened his heart to helping a person who is stuck in a bad place. We don't have all the answers, and are taking life one day at a time. That's all we can do, and have faith that everything will fall into place.

With the holidays approaching, presents are not far from the children's minds. We've been talking with them about the importance of taking care of each other, and those around us. I think when they see how we're helping our friend and her daughter, they're seeing that not everything can be wrapped in a box. The children's program at the church in town is working on making a donation to World Vision, and have plans on buying an animal for a family. Its inspiring to hear, and I hope as the children do activities geared towards adding to this cause, they pull from it the meaning of the holidays. We're also doing activities with Cub Scouts and school-both with canned food drives and adopting families. Its a bit crazy with everything going on at once, but at the same time, we aspire to show the children this way of life throughout the year-its just a ton of reinforcement at once. So while the vision of Santa bringing a DS is not far from their minds, they also see how people take care of each other too.

So with all this said, it does seem like the holiday spirit is around us. There are opportunities for us to make it meaningful. I'll keep my prayers going for those who are hurting, and aspire to do good for my children and those around me.




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