Yesterday our preacher preached a hellfire-and-brimstone message against Santa Claus. It was very good! To sum it all up – he was pointing out to us how teaching our children about Santa Claus is one of the ways the world is using to take Christ out of Christmas.

It really made me think about just how commercialized CHRISTmas has really become.

This year, our Christmas will be a bit different from the usual. We’re flying to Michigan to see my family. We’re going to church Sunday morning, and then we’ll leave straight from church to go to the airport. We would have liked to stay for the evening service too, but there were no more flights out on Christmas Day that didn’t overlap the service somehow. We’ll spend a week up there, and we’ll return on New Year’s Eve.

With the loss of Stephen’s job, we’ve really pulled in the reigns as far as money is concerned. We wanted to be cautious about our spending so that by January, we weren’t so pressed for income if Stephen has not started a new job yet. We have already bought one gift for Little man, before we found out about the job. We may just give him that gift this year. He’s still little, and it’s something I know he’ll really enjoy (he had a blast playing with it in the store when I first found it, LOL!). In light of today’s society, I’d love to shower him with tons of gifts – but he has so many toys already! It’s hard to justify buying him lots of toys when he has a hard time playing with everything he has to start with. It’s just not necessary. Stephen and I haven’t decided what to do about gifts for each other yet. We really have not discussed it at great length.

Since Christmas is celebrating Christ’s birthday, I’m trying to figure out ways to celebrate with our family that focus on the REAL meaning – not on just giving each other gifts. I want to make Christmas special – but where my children understand that if it weren’t for Christmas – we wouldn’t have a Savior who came to die for us.

I have considered making a birthday cake on Christmas Eve. After all, it is Christ’s birthday! Since we’re leaving for a week, I also thought about making cupcakes and freezing what we don’t eat – so we can still have the cake but won’t have to worry about it going bad.

It’s also been interesting to read other Christian ladies’ blogs – there are so many women out there with so many good ideas!

When we decide what we’re going to do (for sure) I’ll post an update!

A friend of mine posted this at HP this morning. It is so true – I wanted to share it.

‘T’was the night before Christmas and all through the
town Not a sign of Baby Jesus was anywhere to
be found.

The people were all busy with Christmas time chores
Like decorating, and baking, and shopping in
stores.

No one sang “Away in a manger, no crib for a bed”.
Instead, they sang of Santa dressed-up in
bright red.

Mama watched Martha Stewart, Papa drank beer from a
tap. As hour upon hour the presents they’d wrap
When what from the T.V. did they suddenly hear?
‘Cept an ad.. which told of a big sale at Sears.
So away to the mall they all flew like a flash…
Buying things on credit… and others with
cash!

And, as they made their way home from their trip to
the mall, Did they think about Jesus? Oh, no… not at all.
Their lives were so busy with their Christmas-time
thing No time to remember Christ Jesus, the King.

There were presents to wrap and cookies to bake. How
could they stop and remember who died for their
sake?

To pray to the Savior… they had no time to stop.
Because they needed more time to “Shop til they
dropped!”

On Wal-mart! On K-mart! On Target! On Penneys! On
Hallmark! On Zales! A quick lunch at Dennys. From
the big stores downtown to the stores at the
mall, they would dash away, dash away, and
visit them all!

And up on the roof, there arose such a clatter As
grandpa hung icicle lights up on his brand new
stepladder.

He hung lights that would flash. He hung lights that
would twirl. Yet, he never once prayed to
Jesus… Light of the World.

Christ’s eyes… how they twinkle! Christ’s
Spirit… how merry! Christ’s love… how
enormous! All our burdens… He’ll carry!

So instead of being busy, overworked, and uptight
Let’s put Christ back in Christmas and enjoy
some good nights!

Well…I just realized I never updated y’all on Stephen’s job hunt. Sorry!

All five of those numbers that Stephen was given were Christian schools. We were originally told that at least two of them were hiring immediately. After two days of calling and calling and waiting for return calls, we found out that none of the schools was hiring. Well, ok, one is hiring subs, but that’s not enough work for my sweet hubby since he’s the breadwinner.

So we’re back to square one.

Stephen has had some other ideas that he’s still researching. No more concrete leads, but no more definite “no” answers either. In fact, we both still have peace about the one main ministry that we’ve been considering.

Honestly I have no idea what’s going to happen. We’re starting to feel some pressure now – in two weeks my husband will be completely unemployed. That’s frightening. We’re doing all we can, though – praying that God will show us what to do, and we’re also looking just about everywhere considering all sorts of job options. I do know that Stephen doesn’t want me to work outside the home, but that’s fine with me – I have no desire to. I’d much rather stay home with Little man.

I don’t know. We’re just waiting and praying.

Sounds like a contradiction, doesn’t it?

But wait – I meant to type that. Infertility is a blessing.

Don’t get me wrong. Infertility is not easy – by no means. It’s tough – and painful – very, very painful – but it is a blessing.

When a couple experiences infertility, it is often heartbreaking, but there is so much we can learn. Stephen and I are coming up on another “infertility anniversary” – a date that marks just how long it’s really been for us with no pregnancies. Each time a signifigant date comes and goes, I tend to get introspective about it.

One thing I have learned is how much of a miracle each child really is. If we would have conceived immediately like we anticipated, I wonder if I would have seen my child as the miracle she really was. But instead – I see how hard it can be to bring a child home – and I see the miracle that is my son. After waiting and longing for so long, the end result is much sweeter. I look at my Little man every day and wonder how I was blessed with such an incredible child.

Another thing I have learned is how to relate to others in their pain. While we were struggling with a discouraging diagnosis and month after month after month of failure, there were many people that tried to “console” us. During that time, I learned many things not to say. Things like:

“Just adopt, you’ll get pregnant” – it doesn’t work that way. Only 5% of couples who adopt go on to conceive within a year.

“Just relax” – probably the #1 most despised comment for infertile couples worldwide. Relaxing won’t cure other medical conditions like diabetes or cancer or a broken bone – so why do people think that relaxing will cause me to ovulate? That’s a medical condition too.

“You’re still young” or “You have plenty of time” or “Don’t rush it” – Age or length of time married has absolutely no weight when a person longs for a child. Whether a couple has been trying for 11 months or 11 years – the pain is still there either way. Whenever conception is expected and doesn’t happen, there is still dissapointment regardless of the length of time trying.

What did I learn from all that? Mostly – not to minimize another’s pain. Just because I don’t think they should be hurting or that their pain is not signifigant – it is to the person experiencing it. I am not walking in their shoes, so it is not my place to judge them. Things that may seem like no big deal to me might be a crisis to somebody else.

I also learned that fertility is not a given. If we had conceived immediately, we probably would not have pursued adoption when we did, which means we probably wouldn’t have Little man. Would I have cherished my other children as much as I cherish him? Or would I have taken them for granted?

Most importantly, though, I wonder if I would have come to know Christ as my personal Savior if I hadn’t gone through infertility. I needed to see that even fulfilling my longing for a child was not enough to fill that void in my life. I had lived a life of religion for so long, ignoring the fact that I was truly lost. If it weren’t for infertility – and our becoming parents later than we had planned – would I have made the connection? Would I have admitted that even being a mother wasn’t what I needed? I don’t know.

See – infertility IS a blessing! Many painful lessons learned, but still, a tremendous blessing.

I was showing Kelly my blog last night – on Stephen’s computer. While I was looking at it – I realized that my pretty little script-y signature can’t be viewed on computers that don’t have the ChopinScript font installed! (Ok, so it was a “duh” moment) I had thought about it earlier, and intended to do something about it later – and forgot.

I fixed it now, lol! I created a graphic with my signature so everybody can see it the way I see it. (giggle) Controlling, aren’t I? LOL!

I also had an interesting discussion with my mother-in-law tonight about web design. The school (Blessed Hope Baptist School in York, SC) is thinking about having a website designed, and since Mom remembered I do my own websites, she asked me some questions.

I told her (well, Stephen too) that I should put a sign on my blog that says “Web Nerd For Hire” – just to see if I get any “bites.” I enjoy web design (and the back end other computer stuff too) so much that Stephen and I have talked about me going to a local college to get a degree in web design or e-commerce or something related, and then running a business from home. It’s never gone very far, but we have discussed it. It has me thinking now, though! I love all the other businesses we have – but this sounds like fun too.

How’s that for two very unrelated degrees? One in music (sacred piano arranging and performance) and one in computer-related technology. Hmmmmmm. I can almost see it.

It sounds like it’d be neat! But on the other hand, I’m not so sure. As a homemaker (and a very content one at that! I love staying home!), my first responsibility is to my sweet husband and our son (and any future children). I’d be afraid that being a “web nerd for hire” would take away too much time from my family. Then again – guess you never know.

Gonna have to pray about that one. It sounds like something that would fit our family, but there is no way I want to pursue it if it’s not something the Lord would have us do!

Hmmmm. Guess we’ll see about it, huh?

My sweet hubby wiped my hard drive last nigh. Yay! I cannot believe how fast my computer runs now – it’s like a new computer!

Now for the fun of reinstalling my important programs…I think I’m probably about 75% done now…

We’re in the process of reformatting my hard drive. YAY! Hopefully when we’re done my computer will run MUCH faster. It’s getting kinda slow because of all the junk I have on it. I’m really looking forward to a clean slate!

So – if I don’t blog for a couple days, that’s why. I’m not sure how long it will take to reinstall XP and all the other programs that I use.

Have a great couple of wintry days! We have a 1/4 in of ice on everything here – and it’s absolutely beautiful!

How cool is that??? I just stumbled across Sallie’s blog Two Talent Living a couple weeks ago when she was hosting the Blogs of Beauty Awards. Well, the other day, she announced that she was having a give-away of her husband’s time to do an hour’s worth of graphic or blog design for the lucky winner.

I left Sallie a comment, telling her it was a neat idea – and actually got entered into the contest.

Imagine my suprise when I logged onto the computer this morning and saw that I won! Wow!

Since I wasn’t actually trying to enter the give-away, I’ve already emailed Sallie. But I just had to share that I actually won something!

I just love how God chooses to bless us! It amazes me sometimes.

It’s been so neat to watch how He’s been answering our prayers. It seems like lately – I’ll pray for something, and then open up my Bible to read, and God speaks to me using the exact words of my prayer!

The other day Stephen and I were talking about the different ministries we were considering. I told him that I knew what my desires were, but that I just wanted to leave it with the Lord and be content with what God’s will was for us.

A little while later, I opened up my Bible to read. This is what I found:

Psalms 10:17 LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:

Psalms 40:17 But I [am] poor and needy; [yet] the Lord thinketh upon me: thou [art] my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.

Psalms 70:5 But I [am] poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou [art] my help and my deliverer; O LORD, make no tarrying.

Psalms 130:2 Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.

How is that for an affirmation that God heard my prayer?

It has been so long since I’ve had to write a resume! Stephen and I are working on his tonight – and wow – it’s tough, isn’t it?

That’s ok – it’s worth it!