Lawd Help Me I've Buckled Up!

With fashion, as with all things in my life, I am almost always late to the dance. Being cutting edge and trendy I have never suffered from.  I have done a decent job of staying up to date with hair (although, BDJ will never let me forget I lived during the time of and rocked a form of a mullet) and makeup and shoes.  Ah...shoes, love, love, love shoes and I can't help myself, I am going to buy them.   I almost never leave a shoe store empty handed.  Clothes however I am a little slower to purchase.

 

For years I shopped almost exclusively clearance (or Clarance as my friends and I call that super cheap area).  I had the attitude that I could learn to love the flamingo pink Capri's with purple flowers...right?  Wonder Hubby has threatened my life scolded me over and over to stop "saving" money by buying stuff I don't love only to have it grow old in the closet.  I have always been lucky in that he liked shopping for me and every Christmas would almost always bring some current fashions. 

But alas, he has finally worn me down (that is where my shoe addiction actually started) and convinced me to buy what I love.  He has pushed me to walk into a store, choose what I like and never flip a tag (okay, he can do this, I still cannot).  I have since purchased pieces that I seem to never tire of  and that last (who knew?).  The one exception to this style of shopping is jeans.

I grew up wearing jeans only to do work around the house.  I wore them to ride horses or to feed them but not casually.  The jeans I did own were not fashion forward and not to be worn to school.  Although I grew up during the time of white tag Levi's I was cursed to have a His Chic factory and outlet store in my hometown.  Chic jeans were not the "in" jeans and did absolutely nothing for my figure. Apparently I grew up in a time that parents didn't understand the importance of your children fitting in so as not to warp their sense of self for life.  In today's world when kids do just about anything to set themselves apart I would have been a rebel wearing dress slacks and cowboy boots!

  EVERYBODY wore white tag Levis while I sported dress slacks and khaki's and for around the farm work Chic jeans.  Yes I was a huge fashion don't.  My first experience with Levi's was my senior year of high school when a friend insisted that I wear jeans for our western themed homecoming and I donned her white tag Levi's.  I don't really remember being impressed by them, probably because I knew it was a temporary thing and didn't want to get hooked.

Fast forward several years and I began my love affair with Levi's.  By the time I caught the boat, white tag jeans were history.  I have been faithful to Levi's for many years now, from pleat front to classic straight leg and boot cuts.  I wouldn't buy anything else.  Then several years back my Levi's weren't fitting quite the way they used too and they didn't seem to hold up as well.  I finally figured out it was after they were being made predominately outside the USA.  I could no longer walk into a store grab 3 pair in my size and check out, now it was a half day of frustration to get 3 pair made fairly similarly.  Now what?  Oh I griped and complained and put off purchasing new ones until the old ones were too sad for Goodwill but I didn't make a change.

Finding a new favorite jean would be time consuming, frustrating and what I feared most, expensive.

 

So this year Wonder Hubby and his band of buddies were apparently talking about what their wives wear (strange to me since my friends and I NEVER talk about what our hubbies wear).  During this conversation Wonder Hubby was introduced to the Buckle jeans concept.  The next time I was complaining about jeans he suggested that I purchase said Buckle jeans.  He approached this very quietly since they aren't the cheapest purchase you can make and knew it would set me off on a tirade about the cost of clothing.  Needless to say I scoffed at the idea of dropping $100.00 plus on a pair of jeans.  They are jeans people, jeans, but I do have to tell you the rumor is that they make your bee hind look amazing. 

I continue living in my old ill fitting Levi's with the occasional comment about how I have to take the time to spend a week finding new ones.  Then Christmas rolls around.  Remember how I said Wonder Hubby was really good about buying me up to date clothing?  Well, I began to unwrap and received cool boots and sweaters and BUCKLE jeans.  Holy crap!  My first thought was "great now what am I going to do with these, how can I return them without hurting his feelings?"  Somehow I knew to be politically correct and thank him and gushed about how he had spent WAY TOO MUCH  on them and put them aside. 

I was feeling very cow like that day and felt sure I would have my out when I went to try them on.  I just KNEW they would not fit or I wouldn't like them.  Later in the day I slipped away to try them on so that I could go ahead and break it to him and get it over with.  I began to pull them on and thought "too bad I will be taking these back because they really feel good" when I was fully in them I thought "DARN I LIKE THEM.....I ACTUALLY LOVE THEM."  Oh...remember me telling you about the rumor?  Well, its true.  I won't say they made my bee hind amazing but there was certainly improvement.   It just figures I would fall for jeans that cost a weeks groceries.  Now I was mad because my built in excuse wasn't going to fly but WORSE THAN THAT I didn't want to return them!

 

Buckle Jeans - Kate Straight

Before I could devise another plan my mother called, solely for the purpose of letting me know that she knew Wonder Hubby had purchased said jeans and had been thrilled to get me into something other than Levi's and that I "WAS NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES" to return them.  So I justified keeping the jeans with the notion that I was doing good by not hurting Wonder Hubby's feelings :) 

After a couple of days I had decided that I COULD NOT justify the cost of THESE JEANS that I would return them.   As it turned out the day I decided this was the same day Mini and I spent some quality time together in my newly purged closet with me trying on different clothing combos and her critiquing.  During this awesome for me, horrible for Mini time I tried on the Buckle jeans for her.  She really liked them on me....in fact she did not hesitate to share that basically I looked like crap in my old Levi's and should never wear them again.  So it was that I became the proud owner of some Buckle jeans. 

I wore them a couple of times with cute little kitten heels and jackets and loved them!  But I had a problem. They were straight leg.  I like to wear boot cut jeans too and with the new info that my current jeans looked bad, I had a dilemma, I needed a second pair.  Thank goodness for Christmas money I was all set to purchase another pair of better than Levi's jeans.  

 First however I had seen some True Religion jeans somewhere while Christmas shopping and liked them so I did a bit of Google research. What I found out was the True Religion jeans I liked were about $300.00...yes you read that correctly.  At first I was appalled, I mean I am cheap....Goodwill, Clarance cheap and I still hadn't fully wrapped my mind around buy Buckle jeans but then I had to wonder.  If $100.00 jeans make your bee hind look better what in the world might $300.00 jeans do for me?  I wondered for about 30 seconds then decided I didn't need to get too amazing too quickly so I would just go with the lower end jeans! lol  The True Religion jeans will go on my wish list for when I win the lottery.

When I win the lottery....this is how my bee hind will look! lol

After a couple of days of selling myself on the idea that I deserved to treat myself and the constant reminders Mini gave me every time I put on the oh so offensive Levi's we went shopping.  I am sure all you hip blogging babes know all about this Buckle place but it was new to me and definitely NOT designed for my, ahem, age demographic. 

Talk about being a fish out of water....I was practically flopping on the floor.  To cut down on the amount of time I would have to spend here I grabbed the first available sales clerk (don't you know it was a uber hip guy younger than my son!) and told him exactly what style and size I needed.  I wanted this over fast.  Oh no, that would have been wayyyyy too easy.  First off he drags me to the back (this is the area they keep their cheap styles and naturally where I was shopping) and informs me they are phasing the style I wanted (naturally). 

 The good news is they have a new style that is close to the same...now this is where it gets really humbling and I became woozy and all went a bit fuzzy.  According to Mini this young man was perfectly polite as he explained the features of the new style.  That is what she says.  What I heard was this twerp announce on the PA tell me that this style features the WIDER WAIST BAND....."you know it has the EXTRA STRETCHY WAISTBAND" he said, and "it is cut with a lot more room in the hips and thighs and is mid rise"  Really, did this guy think I hadn't read that this was the cut for a curvy fit!  Just so you know mid rise is NOT mom jeans it simply means the zipper is long enough for the zipper pull to lie flat, thank you very much!   I don't know about y'all, but curvy fit isn't nearly as offensive as a "lot more room!"  What I heard was "Hey really old lady, the elastic waist geriatric under your arm pit jeans are back here, maybe we can find some that will stretch across the wide expanse of your bee hind."    I think the other really hip guys in the front were just breathing a sign of relief that they weren't having to deal with the old hag.

So now I am completely mortified but I have to try on the "new style."  I had Mini positioned just outside of the dressing room to give me feedback but when I popped open the door Mini is upstaged by Uber Hip guy waiting to take a peak.  Really?  I can understand if you had a long legged 24 yr old in the dressing room but did he really have to take a look to "help" me with fit?  I have let on select people see me try on anything in years!   At my age, how things look on is only the beginning of the buying decision and fit doesn't always means how the item hugs or doesn't hug curves.  For me fit has to do with how many things I can do in the jeans, can I sit?  Can I squat down to pick up dust bunnies, etc?  CAN I BREATH?
 

So Uber Hip guy stands one hand on hip, one finger beside his mouth, looking and thinking (probably about he should marry someone 20 yrs younger than himself so as to never have to deal with a wife in my age group) with a completely blank look.  I am asking Mini what she thinks hoping he will step aside and let us girls handle it when he steps in to access the fit and says the words that save him from the slow death I was planning....."I think you need a smaller size, see this area on the back of the thighs you are getting some bagginess!"  Redemption at last!!!  Okay, maybe he wasn't so bad.   He returned with some smaller sizes and I closed the door and began trying them on. 

As I am inside I overhear he and Mini talking about which type of Buckle jeans she likes/wears and does she need new ones.  If I am not mortified enough I hear her respond by telling him, "I'm a bargain shopper, I don't wear Buckle because I like jeans that cost $20.00!"  Wonder Hubby had tried to talk her into trying some to wear for special occasions but was shot done by a rant on the price.  This is her stance, yet she practically forced me into buying them by telling me how I should trash my other jeans, go figure.  

 Truthfully, I was relieved that she didn't start on how she would rather shop at Goodwill than anywhere or her rant about retailers in general.  Thankfully the smaller size fit perfectly (truth be told if I could have gotten them on but they didn't fit I would have bought them anyway because there was no way I would admit I needed the bigger size to this kid, I have a little pride you know).

Now sighing with relief I changed into my original gift pair to have them altered and I was feeling pretty good.  That is until I realized I hadn't brought with me the flats I needed them hemmed for and had to go barefoot which should have been no big deal.  It was then I realized just how bad my toenails looked.  Hadn't I suffered enough with this whole experience?  Did I have to be sporting flaking, grown out, faded red nail polish in a store filled with nubile young things with custom pedicures?  Oh yeah I was.  So I just grinned and nodded and agreed with whatever he said. 

 When said altered jeans arrive by mail this week it will be like Christmas all over again when I try them on and see if they are now hemmed to Capri length because I didn't pay attention and just tried to get the alteration thing over with.

So folks, that is the tale of how I became buckled up.  I have learned some valuable lessons from this. 
 1. Buy what you love.
  2. Be careful not to love the pricey stuff. 
 3.  If what you love comes from a store out of your age bracket, order online or better yet send your husband that started the whole mess! 

 Apparently paying for them isn't punishment enough for him.  Don't tell anyone, but I have a secret hope that someday, Levi's will fit me correctly again and I can return to my true first jean love.  Thanks for stopping in, have a great week!

Snow Happy Kitchen

Every year after Christmas I am on sensory overload.  After having lived with excessive holiday decor for a month I am ready to strip everything bare.  The problem is when I do that I end up doing the equivalent of spring cleaning and then I am sad that there are weeks of bleak weather still ahead. 

I always keep my kitchen and dining room tables decorated in a Snow or Snowman themes (I blogged about them here, hum..... they look different this year, I guess I better blog about that!) through January but everything else is pretty cleaned out.  This year I just wasn't ready to go all bare just yet so I changed over one of the Christmas trees in my kitchen from Gingerbread to Snowman and added a little Winter to my window ledge in the kitchen.  After a weekend in the 70's with tons of rain and today in the upper 20's with freezing rain, I am so glad I left a little cheer.

I think I am liking this.  I haven't put up my Snowman tree for a couple of years so I am excited to enjoy it this year.  It is decorated with lots of ornaments and signs  I made over the years, here are a few of my favorite ornaments.

My friend Genine and I got on a kick several years back and painted all kinds of ornaments.  She still does....I slack!  This is one of the favorite ornaments I have painted.

 The snowflake snowmen are too cute....I have ear muffs

 and Top Hats

 I remember how much I enjoyed painting the stone and snow covered trees on this mitten.

 Isn't this birdhouse snowman adorable?  Sadly, I can't say I painted this guy!

My kitchen window ledge.

Love the glow!

These little guys are Dollar Tree jewels from years back.  I love the detail on each of them.

Love, love, love this guy!  He was my prize the first time I played Dirty Santa.  I WAS GOING TO HAVE HIM and did what I had to do to get him.  I don't get invited to play much anymore though :(  I love his muted colors.

This little one was a gift.  Very cute and whimsical but I feel sure it was to mock me.  I have a tendency to fall not so spectacularly and neither does this guy.!  At some point he lost an arm but I still love him.

So there you have it, my new way to ward off the January blues.  Thanks for stopping by.  

Photo Upload Problem Rant

Okay so I am more than a bit frustrated with Blogger today! Grrrrrrrrr  

 

 First last month was the whole "you are out of photo space" announcement that could only be solved by biting the bullet and paying monthly.  After two weeks of ignoring my blog I gave up the credit card number and committed.

 

Now for the last few days I have been unable to simply upload photos in my compose screen.  I have only been able to upload through HTML which takes longer and is annoying!

 

So, am I the only blogger dealing with this?  If not, please share your ideas on other options for uploading. 

 

Thank you for taking time to read my rant!

Are you a Shopper or Conqueror?

I don't think there is anyone left on the planet that doesn't know how I hate The Place That Shall Not Be Named.  Goodness knows I will tell anyone that stands still long enough how much I hate, hate, hate, loathe The Place.  Despite my feelings my budget doesn't always allow me to shop Publix, where shopping really is a pleasure.

Due to said budget and the need to feed us, I have to shop at The Place.  Last Sunday after church I conned Mini and her boyfriend into meeting me at said place to help me get groceries.  Which means I finish faster, thereby improving my mood for days.  They finished their lunch date and headed over to The Place while I was still 10 miles from the store.  I relayed 1/3 or so of my list to Mini via phone and expected they would be tapping their feet waiting for me when I arrived. 

I was practically skipping when I leapt from the car and headed in.  I was surprised to find they have only managed to get a few items.  Oh well with three of us how long could it possibly take, right?  Wrong.   First of all love birds seem completely unaware of the frustration of just being in this place not to mention having to pay the bill at the conclusion of this exercise.  So they were strolling leisurely when I caught up to them and gave Mini the look. 

The look isn't something I do, it is something I project when I am at The Place.  It is completely subconscious.  My conscious mind is only plotting the best strategy for getting out.  Mini knew it was time to get serious with the shopping and did her best to make boyfriend get the picture.  Boyfriend, bless his heart, just did not seem to understand the seriousness of the situation.  He was amazed that I had a grocery list with menu included that was mapped out by zone.  Doesn't everyone I asked?  "No, we just come in and look around and buy stuff," he responded.  What?

Do people really just wander into the grocery, or worse yet, The Place, and toss things willy nilly into the cart?  This is a concept I cannot comprehend.  I am a lister.  I have been since I was first married.  At first it was because we had to watch every penny and without a plan it was easy to overspend.  Now, I make a list because I am having more and more hormone haze moments and hardly remember where I am much less why I am there.  I can't go into a store for two items and come out with both of them without a list.

For me, grocery shopping now at The Place is about two things.  The first thing is just surviving, the second is beating last week's total (if I didn't pretend this was all a game I would lose my mind on some of the people that shop there).  If I do those two things I have shopped successfully conquered The Place for another week.

Now back to our adventure.   Mini and I poked and prodded and mostly worked around Boyfriend or who Mini termed, "he is such a man in a store."  We had him push the buggy but he was much too slow (go figure the guy is over 6 feet tall, he should be able to cover the place in 6 minutes flat) not to mention he had no clue about buggy driving etiquette!  We tried having him follow but he was easily distracted.   Finally, we managed to drag him through and make it out of of the place.  Lesson learned, never bring an amateur grocery gaming.  Thankfully we conquered.

Now to the list I mentioned above.   I plan our menu based on sale items and ability to perform multiple meal miracles with the ingredients.  So my list/menu is a must have.  A while back I lost my list before I transferred our menu to my kitchen chalkboard.  I stared blankly into the cabinets and fridge like a teen in search of the perfect snack. I was hoping seeing the goods would jog my memory as to what the heck I had planned for the week.  Thankfully after rummaging through the garbage and then a coat pocket I found it and all was right with the menu world again. 

This week multi-meal miracle centered on a roast.  I haven't purchased a roast in forever thanks to periodic meat deliveries from my dad.  He has a beef killed in the fall (the man doesn't really cook so I am not sure why) and I am the fortunate receipent of some of the meat.  I gasped with sticker shock but bit the bullet and purchased it. Night one we enjoyed a wonderful pot roast. Actually, it was a iron skillet roast with potatoes and carrots just like my grandmother used to make.  The day after we enjoyed French Dip sandwiches.

The timing for the sandwiches was perfect. My dear friend, Tammy and I finally managed to get together to exchange our Christmas last Tuesday. Sad huh?  We have been trying since the 2nd week of December but illness and freak acts of nature didn't allow.  One of the gifts I received were these adorable little condiment bowls. Tammy purchased them with my Fiesta collection in mind.  She did well, they are perfect and we used them that very night with our French Dip sandwiches for Au Jus.

Yesterday was another day of work on the closet makeover so I needed something for dinner that was quick and easy.  Roast to the rescue!  I put what was left from the previous two meals in the crock pot with my burrito/chimi filling recipe spices and let it cook all day.  Last night we enjoyed burritos, rice and beans with fresh salsa and guacamole. 

So you see I believe that my plan and conquer strategy really works for us.  I guess it gives me the distration I need to ignore the sweaty palms, racing heart and need to flee feeling I get at The Place.

Do you leisurely shop or do you conquer?  Are you a by the list/menu cook or do you wing it?  If you are a leisure shopper that has that incredible ability to wing it cooking, please share your secrets :) 

More Good Stuff

Hi all!  I am taking a quick break to say hello and spread a bit of good stuff.  I have been completely unmotivated slow to get back into the swing of things after the holidays. 

I have been a busy bee taking down Christmas, cleaning. etc. but I am just now feeling like I am getting back in the groove.   This week I talked Wonder Hubby into a complete master closet makeover.   We are literally knee deep in junk clothing and sick of purging!  Hopefully I will be done with this project (except for hauling literally two SUV's of stuff to Goodwill, yikes) by Monday.  I can't wait to share the transformation with you.

In the meantime I do have some really good stuff to share.  Mini's 2nd column was on newsstands yesterday.  This edition has her new photo byline

(I know I am prejudiced but she is just the prettiest thing!)....and a brand new article to kick off the new year.  I will copy and paste below.   I hope you are enjoying the brand new year and can take something away from this article that helps you have a blessed year!

            Hey there, readers! It’s around that time of year where everyone starts making those silly little New Year’s resolutions. You know, those promises you make to yourself that you’re going to stop biting your nails or lose those fifteen pounds you’ve been trying to get off all year. As we all know, those little resolutions often times fall empty when it’s time to follow through with them. In two weeks your nails will have ragged edges again and your treadmill will have piles of clothes strewn on top of it. I think this year we all need to make a more purposeful New Year’s resolution. I think we all could use a stronger relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and our Father in heaven. “How can I do this?” you may be asking yourself. Granted, this isn’t necessarily an easy task if done correctly. But it’s one well worth the time and effort it will take.

            To do this, we need to take a good, long look at John 15. This chapter is titled “The Vine and the Branches”. Here we learn that God is the gardener, Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches. It’s common knowledge that if you have a plant, you’re going to cut off whatever branches on the plant that don’t bear fruit. After all, that’s what the branches are for, right? Well, the bible says here that God will do just that. The branches that are useless (aka, the stagnant, normal people of the world who do nothing for the glory of God) will be cast off. As we read more, Jesus tells us that in order to bear fruit, a branch must be connected to the vine. Our vine is Jesus Christ. In order for us to bear fruit, we must have a relationship with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. We must acknowledge what he has done for us and also his teachings. Did he not command us to take up our crosses daily in Matthew 10? He told us things would be difficult. He told us we’d lose friends and even family members who think we’re crazy for taking what he tells us so seriously. He also told us that no man can come to the Father except through him (John 14:6). Jesus’ life is an account of how we grow in Christ and how we can develop a closer relationship with our heavenly Father. But why would anyone want to do that?

            What’s the point of developing a relationship with God? Freedom. Freedom from sins. In God our chains have been removed and we have been set free! Isn’t that a wonderful feeling? It’s already programmed in our hearts to love and follow Christ. We ache for him. The question should be what is stopping us from going the extra mile for God? This is my challenge to you. This year, live a life for God. Pray with fervor, read more in your bible, find friends of faith. Have a relationship with your Lord that bears the fruit that John 15 is talking about. I promise you, you won’t be able to recognize who you were a year from now.

            Thanks for stopping by!

A Few of My Favorite Things - Wee Home Tour

Anytime I hear the words, a few of my favorite things,  I hear them as the song from The Sound of Music.  I find myself humming it for the rest of the day.  So, as I decorate and prepare for Christmas I see my favorite things and the soundtrack begins to play in my head.

I haven't really changed up decor this year just tweaked things a bit.   I struggled this year getting started and then getting finished! lol  Let me show you just how off I was when I started.

Ummm...yeah, not quite right.  I would love to say that I fixed it right away but the truth is I had to do this twice to rearrange to the correct shape.  For years we have stored the trees fully assembled in My Christmas Place in the attic...but last year Wonder Hubby convinced me to take them apart (boo!).  Not sure I will do that again.

After assembling it correctly I stated to decorate and just couldn't figure out why it didn't look right.  Could it have been that I was using only 1 tiny box of decor and had forgotten the main box with 95% of the decoration.  Maybe.

I finally got my act together and finished my decorating (such as it is this year) so I thought I would share a few of my favorite things.

First up...this is what you see outside our home.  Mini's little house is foo fooed a bit.

Last year was the first year I did anything with the Mini's house.....added a bit of candy this year and have some ideas now for next year.

Welcome to our home.

 

One of my trees in the kitchen.  This is my Santa tree.  It started out as a tabletop tree and has grown over the years.

I painted this little guy years ago....still love to see him hanging on by a star!

 I made a half dozen or so of these guys...they were so fun!

 

 I have several okra Santa's as well as starfish and stars and blocks that I have painted.

 

This little guy is my favorite ornament that I have ever painted :)  I don't know why he has ended up on the Santa tree but this is where he hangs out.  Love him.

 

Maybe I have struggled with getting things done because I was distracted by this....

Mini wore this for a special event at my shop when she was in 5th grade...she is a junior now....see why we call her Mini!  Wonder Hubby and Mini....taking a break from decorating the family tree.

The previous part of this post was prepared last Thursday.

We now interrupt this blog post for a falling tree, no Internet and a Wonder Hubby with the flu for Christmas!

 

An hour of so after I prepared the previous part of this post Wonder Hubby pulled into our driveway after work.  As he came up our drive, he heard a loud noise, looked in his rear view window and saw a very large tree fall just behind him.  It was a VERY, VERY close call. 

 

The tree took out our power, phone and cable and did a bit of damage to the house.  Thankfully he wasn't hurt and as of tonight everything is restored.  The tree will have to be dealt with after the holiday.

 

Wonder Hubby was not feeling well on Thursday, so he skipped the 2 am airport run to pick up BDJ (I am too old for many more of those!).  By Friday he was feeling rough.  Saturday he was off to the doctor and had to go again today...he is fighting the flu.  I hate that he isn't feeling well for Christmas and hasn't felt well for any of BDJ's visit.  I am praying that he will feel well enough to be up for a while tomorrow.  In the meantime I am the Queen of the Lysol can.

 

Despite all the drama here, we have been enjoying having time together.  I have many more favorite things to share but due to time constraints, I will save those and share them next year! lol

 

Wishing you and your families a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mini's Debut - "Words of Hope"

It's official.....Mini's first article was published today!  I have been so excited all week I could hardly wait!  Mini was typical Mini and was completely laid back about the whole thing :) 

 

So here is Hope aka Mini with her new column "Words of Hope."

So, as promised I am going to try and copy and paste the 1st article of her column here....forgive me if I don't do a great job of it.  If you are local, please pick up a copy and let the powers that be at the paper know you appreciate this type of news.

 

It’s that time of year again! Beginning at exactly 12:00 a.m. on the day following Thanksgiving, America begins decking some halls and rocking around those Christmas trees. Everyone leaps into action to provide the perfect gifts for their loved ones and make their homes look festive. However, the true reason for the season often gets lost amid the hustle and bustle of Black Friday sales and holiday baking.  Christmas time is the time of year chosen to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. THAT’S a reason to celebrate!

The birth of Jesus is seen most vividly in Luke, chapters 1 and 2.  We all know the basics of the story. Three wise men, Mary and Joseph, and a baby that is swaddled in cloth are common icons of the Christmas nativity scenes, but do we really ever think about this story?

 Mary was a teenage girl, historically between the ages of 13 and 16, and she was engaged to a man named Joseph. An angel came to Mary and told her that she is favored and is to be expecting a baby boy who is the “Son of the Most High”. As a teenage girl, Mary had the faith to accept that she is going to be ridiculed and accused of things that were not true in order to deliver this baby. She had faith that God knew what He was doing, and trusted that He’d get her through the tough spots. She knew that becoming pregnant BEFORE getting married was a HUGE no-no, but she took on the challenge anyway. Even though Mary was “impregnated by the Holy Spirit”, people obviously weren’t going to believe that. She also knew that a certain Mr. Joseph wasn’t going to be too happy. In fact, Joseph tried to divorce Mary. Things got pretty tough! Thankfully however, an angel of the Lord appeared before Joseph and caught him up on what was going down. If you ask me, Joseph should have been filled in a little sooner, but what do I know?

As we come to the close of our story, Mary and Joseph were on the move when Mary suddenly went into labor. Since there was no room for them in the inns (you’d think they would make room!), Mary delivered Jesus in a stable and placed him in a manger. Finally, our Savior is born! The one who will tear the veil between heaven and Earth and bring us back to our Father is here! This, my friends, is the Christmas story.

As you can see, the Christmas story is not only important to remember the birth of our Savior, but also to remember the faith and trust of Mary. We all need to strive to have the faith and obedience that Mary had so that God can use us for a greater purpose. Even if we can’t exactly see what that purpose is at the moment, God knows. Obedience is key in order for us to grow even deeper in our relationship with Him. My absolute favorite verse to keep this in mind is Luke 1:38. This verse is Mary accepting God’s challenge. It says “I am my Lord’s servant. May your words to me be fulfilled.” Let us all remember this not just during the holidays, but throughout the year. Have a blessed Christmas!

Thank you all for letting me brag a bit.  We are just so proud to have been blessed with such a wonderful daughter.  I am thrilled that through this column many of you will come to know her heart as we do as well as hopefully lead you closer to God.