Saturday, December 27, 2008

Nothing Traditional but Devotion!

"Roam," "ramble," and "meander" all mean to move about from place to place without a plan or definite purpose, but each suggests wandering in a unique way. "Roam" refers to carefree wandering over a wide area often for pleasure (as in, "I roamed over the hills for hours"). "Ramble" stresses carelessness and indifference to one’s course or objective (for instance, "the speaker rambled on without ever coming to the point"). "Meander," which comes from Greek "Maiandros," an old name for a river in Asia Minor, implies a winding course and lazy movement, and it is still sometimes associated with rivers (as in, "the river meandered through the town"). "Meander" can also be used as a noun meaning "a winding path."

For Christmas we (me, Doug, Kris and my Mom) did something so foreign to my family. We had a lazy day absent of the usual cooking and baking for a robust Christmas dinner for a whole army! Instead, we got up late, ate fresh baked cinnamon rolls (I prepared the night before) with broiled ham and boiled eggs, Doug read a Christmas devotional to us by Margaret Manning (A Slice of Infinity), we opened gifts, and enjoyed each others company. Later in the afternoon Kris drove us in a super, duper snowstorm to Anchorage where we MEANDERED through Anchorage looking for a place to eat (Sicily's Pizza), for homes dressed in holiday style and a movie that we all would like to watch together!

(I caught my happy Mom with her hair a mess after she took off her knitted cap! hehehe)

Even though we left so much of our Christmas day to chance, we had fun! After we ate, we went to see Seven Pounds (I give it my thumbs up, but it is a tear jerker) with Will Smith (great actor!) at Century 16. We got home late that night! We did not realize how many people go watch movies on Christmas day! That is most people I've seen at the theater - EVER!

This was a very different Christmas for us all...but we enjoyed it a lot! One can celebrate the birth of Christ no matter what is done together.

Why? Why didn't we do the usual? Because of conflicts in the family - family plans were changed - and to keep the peace. Sometimes we as loving family members have to do things like this. It's all good. At first I tried to be depressed about it all, but that is no way to REJOICE over my salvation through the birth of Jesus Christ!

"O, Come Let Us Adore Him"

Our horizons have been exposed to the possibility of perhaps, maybe next year... meandering around a different town, maybe even in the Lower 48 for Christmas! I am open to change! It can be fun, if you keep your heart where it should be - adoring Christ Jesus --- my LORD Jesus!

It's been two years today since my sister Millie was hospitalized. I sure miss you Sis, Ahka, Chamai, ... Mil.

5 comments:

Faith said...

It sounds to me like your Christmas was perfect. I will keep praying for your sister! Happy New Year.....

Constance said...

I too continue to pray for Millie. (I still keep her link on my sidebar as my reminder!) Is your Mom's messy hat hair the result of one of Millie's "knifty-knitter" hats? Millie and Laura were doing those at the same time!

It sounds like your Christmas was peaceful. I am interested in the movie you saw but it didn't get great reviews. When that happens we tend to wait and see what "real people" have to say about it. We tried to see a movie on Christmas day but it was sold out! We've done that the last 2 Christmas' now (2006 was "The Nativity Story" and 2007 was "I Am Legend").

Our Christmas in 2009 will be a different one, Lord willing. We have made our reservations already and Dave, Charlie and I will actually be spending Christmas in Yellowstone. It's part of our tradition of letting our kids pick our vacation destination the year they graduate from high school. We're leaving on Jan 2nd for a week there and I have all of my gear. I just need to work on a list so I don't forget anything..

Hugs,
Connie

Susannah said...

That's the spirit! Good for you for just "letting it happen." We ended up playing Scrabble until 2:00 AM... unplanned, but so much fun.

It is indeed our "devotion" that makes Christmas worth celebrating year after year--in whatever way it comes.

(((Hugs)))

mrsjojo said...

We also had a different Christmas Day this year. I will post our activity for the day. It was a fun day even though it was different. I'm glad that you had a good time with your mom.
I miss Millie so much also. It's hard to believe that it has been two years. I'm sure it feels more like it to her family. They all are in my prayers.
BRRRRRRRR IT'S COLD OUT THERE--ACTUALLY, IN HERE ALSO. :)

Attie said...

Your Mom is beautiful!!!