Christmas 2011

I know I haven't been blogging much lately...I have been busy living my life rather than blogging about it I guess :)...and happy about it!

Today was Christmas - at least as I write this, at 11:58 p.m. at the moment. And although I had no gifts to open, it was one of the best Christmases I can remember! My husband and I had bought a new TV as our Christmas gift to each other, we've had it for a couple of months, and are enjoying it a lot. My daughter and grandson are out of town, visiting relatives on her dad's side of the family - that has been the only damper on my day, but even so I have been blessed with joy!

Starting the day with church is always great, I wish I could start EVERY day with church! The song leader, Mary, and I sang a duet. It is the first time I have sung in church although I play the keyboard for every service, and I got off to a bit of a rough start vocally...but then was ok after that. Mary, of course, did a great job from start to finish, she's a real pro up there :). The message was excellent as it always is.

Afterward we picked my mom up from the nursing home. She is in a big of a cognitive slump today (Lewy Body Dementia involves lots of cognitive peaks and valleys - "fluctuating cognition" they call it.), but I was excited for her to open her Christmas gift from my sister and I and our husbands - a digital photo frame. I had loaded it with lots of family pictures from past and present, and she watched it for a couple of hours, really was thrilled with it!

I made our traditional Christmas dinner of homemade tomato soup (lots of ricotta and cream!) and very rich cheese sandwiches on English muffin bread with 5 kinds of cheeses, spread with real butter and fried on the skillet until crispy. This has been our Christmas dinner ever since my mom requested it when she was in the early stages of the disease. And I believe it always will be our Christmas dinner, even when...well, after...

My mom stayed and visited for about 3 hours total. As her disease progresses she wants to spend less and less time away from her nursing home - it is small, family-like, everybody knows everybody, she thrives on her friendships and the routine there. She likes it here at my home also, loves playing with my dogs especially, but starts getting anxious after a while...lately it's been about an hour, maybe 90 minutes, before she wants to go back. So today was wonderful, having her here for 3 hours!

After we took my mom back, I had a rare Christmas treat: a nap with my husband! Usually our sleeping schedules are so different, and many Sundays my 31MO grandson is here, so a Sunday afternoon nap isn't possible, but today it was just us, and I slept like a rock for 2 hours, at the same time as hubby! That was a real Christmas gift right there!

After I got up, as he continued to sleep, I took care of my birds and made his lunch and had a couple of hours to myself which is always nice.

This year I have had great peace and joy about Christmas that I haven't experienced in a long time. Part of it are the blessings I receive from twitter, believe it or not - so many lovely Christians, it is like a worship celebration whenever I log on! Part of it is that Jesus has been drawing me so much closer this year, and His Word has been really in my heart. He's been giving me a thirst for it, and even though I don't remember what I've read afterward, the feeling is there, and I know that it is in my heart - the Holy Spirit will be - has been, and is! - able to bring it to my mind as needed, even if my mind doesn't recall it all the time. And the Word has been working in my heart, which sets my mind on things above rather than loving the world...how uplifting is that!

So this year I have had joy and peace in spite of circumstances, my eyes on Jesus and my heart centered on His Word and His promises. What a perfect day!