Merry Christmas!

Each Christmas I send out a letter and a picture to our friends and family. It's actually pretty high on my priority list because one of my favorite parts about this season is hearing from friends and family through their cards. It's a joy to do. It's a little bit of a project, but I think it's worth it. So, I decided to wait a few days after I sent the cards out before I posted it here, but it's Friday now, and Mike will be off for the next two weeks...I wanted to make sure I did it! So, to those of you who have left me comments and feel like friends, this is for you and for those of you who found me while blog-surfin' and liked me enough to keep coming back...it's for you too. I pray you all have a very Merry Christmas.

Love,
Ali


Merry Christmas to our Dear Friends and Family!

One shattered glass ball, four ornaments in need of superglue, one string of lights out, and I was so edgy by bedtime I could barely pray. Ah, the wonderful preparations of Christmas. We needed to go ahead and decorate. Great attitude, huh? “Mike, just get the tree down and we’ll go from there.” It’s an absolute mess. I wanted the house to be perfect before we made another mess. I wanted the floors to be clean and all the little random “things” that find their way into our living room to just disappear. Then Christmas could be just perfect. Not so.

As I was looking at the magnet that had joined the dust bunnies in the corner and the drawer of hair accessories on the bathroom floor I just sort of threw up my hands like, “It’s just not perfect. I’m just not perfect.” Then I thought of Mary and Joseph. A super long donkey ride and then natural childbirth in a barn are not necessarily the perfect conditions for the first Christmas EVER. There is really not a comparison to my little mess of Rubbermaid bins and ornaments.

I love it that Jesus invaded an imperfect world. I love it that His start here was so humble, making Him approachable and real. I’m so thankful that the only thing perfect about that first Christmas was Him. You know why I’m thankful for that? Because the only thing perfect about this Christmas is Him. The pressure is off, the perspective is ON. It’s not about anything but Him. That, my friends, is great news.

Here’s some more great news:
Our kids are super! Anson is 6, Julia is 4 and Ella is 2. I will not go on and on about how smart, good-looking, kind, compassionate, funny, well-mannered, and AWESOME they are. You’ve heard it all before. I will say that we are thoroughly enjoying the challenges and the blessings of homeschool and we are all thriving. It’s our first and very informal year, but I anticipate great things as we trust God with every aspect of this journey.

Mike and I are doing well. We’ve grown a lot this year and the best thing is that we’ve grown together! We went to our first homeschool conference with some of our best friends and we were so encouraged by the information we received from the conference and the fellowship we enjoyed.

It was a rough year for the family. We spent some time in the ICU with my sister, Alex, and now watch in awe at how she has been rebuilt from the inside out. (She was diagnosed with Lupus) We welcomed a nephew and a niece and have battled in prayer for our loved ones as they have endured some darkness. In every circumstance we have lifted our eyes up, up to the heavens, where our help comes from. It’s been very imperfect, just like us.

So, are you struggling with not being perfect? Worried someone might find out? Don’t worry, the secret is out. Christ has made a way for us and as we celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world we can also celebrate that we are not it. From one mess to another…I wish you all the messiest, merriest, happiest, most jubilant celebration ever and a very imperfect, but blessed New Year!