Turning the page to 2013

Today, we began a new year. Like most years, I have several resolutions. One is to attempt to journal again. We just opened Jacob's 16th birthday book and it reminded me, once again, how priceless my journaling is to our family. So, I am sitting down, with a purpose, to attempt to journal our journey. This morning we began the new year with our "traditional" New Year's celebration. It is unlike anyone elses that I know. But this morning, Mark shared with all of us the reason he and I began our tradition. It was a precious and tender moment for all of us. He shared his heart and for the first time, I think our kids realized some precious truths. He shared how his grandparents came to know the Lord and how deep their convictions were. He shared with us how the bible became their source of truth and how reading the Bible was a daily routine. As they read the Bible, God began to change their hearts in everything. They became the most generous and loving people. It was the Bible that changed them and it was Jesus they fell in love with. As they read the BIble, they realized that all that Christmas is now can not be found in the Bible. It was their conviction to remove the celebration of Christmas from their home. They didn't do it to make some statement, they did it because they didn't see it in the Bible and if it wasnt there, they didn't want to be a part of it. That conviction was passed on to his mom and then passed on to her children. But as he has watched over the years and read, he shared with the kids this verse: Romans 14:5 One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He told them that as he read this verse, he realized that it is not necessarily his own conviction. But when we first got married, it was something that he believed and desired that we not celebrate Christmas. So, as a compromise to me, we devleoped our own tradition with New Years. Over time, he has realized that there is nothing wrong or evil about celebrating Christmas. He even asked our kids last year or the year before if they wanted to just open gifts on Christmas. Many, if not all, very emphatically said no. You see, Christmas is a time when we remember the birth of Christ through the church services and the traditions of many Christians. We go to my parents and have a "traditional" Christmas with them. We have a big dinner and gifts. Though Christ is not a priority in their life, Christmas has always been the most precious time of the year for my mom. Because of that, Mark has allowed us to share it with them. But we do not have anything at our house. We don't wake up and do gifts or celebrations or anything. It is New Years that we do all the fun stuff. We wake up and have our big "surprise" with gifts everywhere. I didn't want to lose that tradition, so Mark allowed us to celebrate New Years. Now we make it a precious time where we reflect on what God has done in the past year and pray for the present year. After that, the kids all choose a gift and then giveit to another child to hide. They run all over the house and hide a gift. Then when Mark says "go", they go hunt for their gift. This happens for all 4 or 5 gifts we give them. This morning, it took 3 hours for the whole "event". We had our neice and nephew with us.. so it was 8 kids hiding presents. It was fun. We are very blessed. As for health in our home, we are very blessed as well. Right now, we are battling the stomach flu. It seems as it gets passed on, it gets a little more intense. I think it began with Elizabeth on Christmas. Ri may have had it a few days earlier. Neither actually threw up, but Ri felt bad and Elizabeth cried about her belly hurting. She ended up with a 103 temp. Then Jacob felt miserable and wanted to throw up Saturday, but never did. Yesterday, I ate some olives that ended up being 3 years expired. I didn't know that because someone had just given them to us. I don't know if that did me in or if I had the stomach flu as well. Emily and I are the only 2 who had the flu shot. I actually ended up throwing up. I felt pretty crummy the rest of the night, but not like I do when I have the stomach flu. Emily felt very nauscious last night as well, but never got sick. Erin and Mark have been battling the nausea off and on for several days. Today, Faith (my neice) ended up with it and ended up getting sick several times. I feel so badly for her. But despite getting sick, she always comes out with a smile and thanking me for offering to help her. She warms my heart... what trooper. Sam was sicker then I ever remember him being a few months ago. I am hoping it was this flu and he is immune to this episode. That leaves Eli (my nephew). Let's pray he doesn't get sick. They fly home Friday. The highlight of 2012 was to hear that my neice accepted Jesus Christ as her savior in October and was baptized on December 23rd. It doesn't get any better then that. We have prayed for her since she was born. What a precious joy. And to add more joy to the news, she is loving reading her bible. It just thrills my heart!