Nativity

Merry Christmas dear ones!
This is a picture of my kids seventeen years ago.
Joshua(12), Ashli(10), Caleb(5), Luke(3),Josiah(3 weeks).

Cheri

Fabulous Fun Fridays/Interruptions

"Twas the Night Before Christmas when all through the house....."

She knows every word!

Have you ever heard a two year old recite 'Twas the Night Before Christmas?

It is about the cutest thing you ever heard!

Big words in a wee one's mouth........

Precious..........I could listen to it over and over and over again..........

She sees a miniature stocking hanging on my tree, then recalls,

"all the stockings were hung by the chimney with care......."

Over and over she recants the story.........delighting my soul with every word.......

Scotty comes home.........."you must hear!"..........

So we begin........again.........." 'twas the night before Christmas......" We watch the

pictures in the big picture book.......we are halfway..........

Suddenly rhyme is interrupted with reason..........

"Hey, hey!!!"

I sprung from the words to see what was the matter............

"Merry Christmas!!!" Her grin captivates my heart!

She was telling me that she was done reciting for today........the verse had been repeated long enough........the needle was being lifted from the stuck gramophone.........we were done.........

But instead of saying....."I'm tired of this!" or "No more!"

She interrupts our game with, "Merry Christmas!"

I close the book! Wrap her in my arms and wait for my next opportunity to hear her little voice ring and sing the tale once again.........

With visions of sugar plums still dancing in my head!!!!!

Especially one little sugar plum..........named Bonnie!

I hope you are very blessed with smiles, blessings, and joy this weekend!

and.........

"a Merry CHRISTmas to all, and to all a good".............day!!!

Cheri ; )

Watching and Waiting

Finally.

He heard the message years before.

He had anticipated the moment........longing for it.........watching and waiting..........

Every  child that entered the temple courts caught his eye.......anticipation would begin to pound within him.......

this could be the One that he had been waiting for.......

Male child after male child passed by his gaze....years were escaping him....time getting away........ and he was aging as each child, all of them eight days old, were carried beyond him to the place where they would be marked......

His heart was seeking for the One....

Finally the day came..........

Suddenly the doors were opened..........Mary entered with the child in her arms, Joseph not far behind her........ instantly Simeon knew! His heart began to dance......his eyes now filling with tears.......Joy! Joy! Joy!

Mary pondered his recognition in her heart. 

He had been expecting Him........his longing intensifying with time.

God's own son, Jesus, had arrived and the watchmen's heart was satisfied...........

Tears stored up for this day were now  streaming down his time worn face.......

Glory surrounded Him..........the holy One............he felt a kindred spirit.........as if he had known Him for years.........this infant child.....the Messiah........the Saviour of the world..........

Every secret desire of Simeon's heart had already been captured in the heart of the One he now held in his arms.

He was embracing Him...... the Word made flesh.......confirming the ancient word that had been promised to him years before.....

"You will not die until you have seen the Christ," it had been promised him.

Hearing and waiting were now being rewarded with seeing.........

Nothing else mattered to him.......other expectations paled in the light of the One who had come to redeem the world.......... the Messiah.........God's proof that He is love........God had sent  a Redeemer for lost souls. Sinners. For those who were not anticipating nor recognizing Him. For those not worthy of Him....... He had been sent for those who would despise Him and reject Him......

But He came..........

Knowing there are those who would be watching for Him........waiting........expecting......desiring Him..... for those like Simeon..........

He will continue to come to the waiting heart.......to those who wait, expect, and desire Him.......He comes......that is a promise!

Until He comes......again!

Cheri

Painting by Ron DiCianni

Story based on Luke 2:25-30

Unexpected Affections

I wasn't expecting it.......I hadn't even thought about it yet.

She ran from the door......they were leaving but first she was 

running back to my arms for one last hug goodbye....and the 

wonderful little kiss she planted on my cheek. 

It sealed it forever.......the love I have for this little Bonnie-girl is

growing and growing. She has wrapped her little self right around my

heart and tied the strings in a great big bow.

Evening came. We decided to take Josh, Martha, and Bonnie out for dinner.

Scotty blessed the food right at the beginning of our meal, before the appetizers but when the real food came Bonnie asked if she could pray. 

We all bowed our heads thanking the Lord for the words that spilled from her heart as she spoke them:

"Thank you for my mommy.....thank you for my daddy (she calls Josh daddy),

and thank you for my family.............and thank you for our food! Amen!"

"Thank you for my family....."

Our beautiful little Bonnie.........somehow she already knows that we are family.

We are all better for being together. It is a beautiful gift to all of us. 

Bonnie rolled the little lollipop she got after dinner round and round and round until

only the stick remained. "Here!" she said, handing it to me. 

Then the kisses came. More kisses on my cheek that remained for a long time......the lollipop juices dried and held them in place.

What is it about the sweet kisses of a child? They linger in your heart long after the child has forgotten them.

They prompt me to petition the Lord for her at a whole new level.

"Thank you, Lord, for my family...........how lovely and intimate are Your ways!" 

xoxoxo,

Cheri

Fabulous Fun Fridays/Granny

It looks as if I am becoming an instant grandma to a little 2 1/2 year old blue eyed, blond haired beauty!
She has a smile that could stop the Grinch in his tracks! She is simply amazing!
Her real grandparents on her real dad's side of the family are not available to her for good reasons that are private and must be contained.........so Scotty and I will indeed fill the role of paternal grandparents for her. I had no idea that this season of my life would begin in such a way.

Josh came over for coffee before work this morning with a little concern. Martha's mom wants to be "Nana" to little Bonnie. The Nana!

"This is not a problem," I say, "I truly understand........I will think of something that Bonnie can call me."

It didn't take long.......the idea.........however borrowed came back into my head........

"I have it! I know exactly what I want to be called!"

Josh grinned........."Okay????" he says........

"GG!"

"GG for 'Gorgeous Granny'..........that is what I want to be called!"

He approved! What could he say..........really????

Micca Campbell (Proverbs 31 Ministries) shared with us that she wanted her grandchildren to call her "GG" someday........and I told her right off that I was going to use her idea! So it isn't stealing!

It sounds so Patsy Clairmont to me! I bet she got the idea from her!!!!!

I didn't know if I would actually implement this idea or not but since "Nana" for a name is taken.......looks like "GG" is the next best option.

I wonder what Bonnie's Nana will think of that? I bet she'll wish she had met Micca before I did!

I hope your home is filled with laughter this weekend! Enjoy the simple joys of life!


Love to all!
GG

Singing My Song

He didn't realize I was his audience.

I couldn't hear but I could see his performance. 

It was a drive-by performance. I was watching as he drove past me in his big red Ford pickup truck.

He was singing with everything in him. Probably practicing for American Idol.

I wanted to hear so I could join in the song.

He looked happy.  Must have been a happy tune.

I love to see people drive past me with their singing face on.

I always have to smile and then wonder who has been watching me singing my songs.

One day I passed a girl (twenty something), she had both hands in the air praising the Lord with all of her might. I strained to see if her eyes were open. Did I mention that she was driving? I guess she had set her car on auto-pilot. Or there was a supreme being helping her out! She kind of made me nervous. I went directly to prayer for her.........and for the cars behind me!

Have I ever done that? I wondered! I can get carried away with my praise in the car! It is one of my favorite places to worship.  There is such freedom in my car with an audience of One......or maybe others can see and I have been so caught up that I haven't noticed. Maybe my unsuspecting audience is going around telling others that I am practicing for tryouts on American Idol. Or maybe they are looking for a way of escape when they see both my arms in the air and are straining to see if my eyes are open.

The man I saw singing in his red truck doesn't know that he made my day! 

Thank the Lord for music! It does gracefully escort us down this path called life.........

And it lifts heaviness........

and sorrow........

it stirs joy.........and peace.........

it calms the heart and settles the mind........

Do angels sing?  A little girl asked me that question one time........

Well, angels do not try out for American Idol.........

but I believe they sing..........with all of their heart.........with hands raised.......or faces bowed.......giving praise and adoration to whom it belongs.....Yes, angels sing!

And so do men in red pick-up trucks and women on their way to town and children at play.......

and the Lord..........He sings over us!

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of song!

Fa la la la la, la la la la!

Cheri

His Answers

She looked at me with glassy blue eyes.

"I just couldn't do it all," she her voice dropped to a whisper hating to reveal her weakness.

She was overwhelmed with the care required to help her elderly friend.

Sunday morning came and with it a suggestion.

"Do what you can do then pray for the Lord to send help with what you are not able to handle,"

her pastor spoke to her need.

Prayer was the answer?

She carried her needs through her mediator to the Father casting every care upon Him.

Help arrived in unsuspected ways.

Needs were met almost instantly.

The Lord had heard and was responding...........

Faith increased in both of us as she shared her testimony.

"He hears, doesn't He?" I affirmed.

She could no longer speak for the emotion and gratitude that now filled her.

"Cast all your care upon Him, for He cares for you!"

Amen!

Cheri~

Christmas Angel

I was walking down the plank for the hundredth time.

"You are doing a great job, Miss Cheri!" Mister Baity our pastor was saying to me.

My brother, Chris, had been in a car accident that nearly took his life a few months before. He was four at the time. I was six.

The hospital had sent Chris home to die. "If he lives he will be a vegetable," they said.

Unacceptable diagnosis for a small boy.

I will never forget the day we drove Chris home from the hospital. We lived in a very small white house with a large front yard. We drove in the driveway and it looked as if the whole town was standing in our yard. (The population of our town was less than 1,000 people). I didn't cry when I saw all those people then, but I do now every time I remember them standing there with such a warm welcome for us.

Now I realize that they were our prayer warriors and had come to bless us with their support!

We walked in our kitchen that day to find enough food that would last for a month! There was not one spare inch on the countertops or table. Every kind of casserole, cake, pie, bread imaginable covered everything. My little girl eyes could hardly believe how our small town was demonstrating their love to our family.

Mr. Baity was my real hero though. Forty some years ago, physical therapy was a new idea in the medical arena. Mr. Baity was our pastor, not a doctor, but I believe with all my heart that the Lord inspired him with wisdom. He built physical therapy equipment for Chris (I admit, it looked a bit crude) and then assigned the 4H Club to come in shifts to help Chris with excercise treatments that Mr. Baity had created. Everyone worked hard. After a few months Chris was walking and talking again.

All of this took lots of time and attention away from me. No one really noticed........not even me at the time......but Mr. Baity noticed, so he came to me and requested that I be the Christmas angel in the Christmas program that year. I would have to agree to practice........every day. I would have to walk down a board that he had made and practice making my announcement. I would have the only speaking part in the whole production. It would be very important that I got it just right.

I agreed to this important assignment. I met Mr. Baity every day at the church (which was right across the street from our house) and walked down the plank and said my lines. He would nod in approval, his red mustache twitching, blues eyes spiced with twinkle and say, "Let me see you do it again!"

And then, "You are going to be just perfect for this part!"

I was the only small child that was given a part in the Nativity production that year. The youth group carried out the rest of it. The BIG kids.

It wasn't until later, much later, long after Mr. and Mrs. Baity had left our small town that I really understood how very special Mr. Baity was and exactly what he had done for me. He saw that I needed some special attention because Chris was requiring so much from the rest of my family. He saw my need.......

Recognizing other's needs, then praying for solutions, then working with compassion to meet those needs.....that was Mr. Baity's way of life.

I have a picture of me in my little angel costume descending from heaven (the board was shrouded in cloud material) to make my announcement that Christ had come..........The picture is so faded.......but there is a smile on my face that really captures what is still in my heart.........

I continue to have a strong desire to be like the real Christmas Angel that shouted out the message in the night to sleeping shepherds while the glory of God filled the skies........the Good News........."He has come! He has come! The Savior of the World..........come to save lost souls!"

I think I will do some practicing on that announcement this morning!


"Glory to God in the Highest! Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men!!!!"

Often times it is not in the shouting, but in the doing and being..........like Mr. Baity was for our family. Having compassion, loving and giving.........I think I will practice his example.......and that will take a lifetime!

Joy to the World!
Cheri

Fabulous Fun Fridays/Who is Coming Home With You?

Thanksgiving was very quiet at our house this year.

Three of our children and our son-in-law were in New York City celebrating together.
Josiah, our youngest,  wanted to go visit Caleb, Ashli and Drake in the big city  and Thanksgiving seemed the best idea because he would have some time off from school.

I sent him off on a big jet plane with his hair kind of long and out of control.........hoping that his sister would get her hands on him and convince him that he should trim up some.......

Monday, I was traveling to get Josiah from the Kansas City airport when I got the news.............

Cholo, Ashli and Drakes beloved dog was coming home with Josiah. What???????

My unspoken request had not been heard! I wanted Josiah to come home with a haircut..........not a dog!

Isn't there a verse in the Bible about making your requests known? I think there is an application here!

Well, what to do? Cholo and Josiah have arrived........

I am babysitting my granddog..........and he is getting spoiled! So spoiled! I don't know if she will want him back.........because we are spoiling him!

Ashli called last night. She said she is still talking to Cholo even though he is not there.......because he is always there!

She will be coming home and will take him back with her at the end of the month........so in January I might be talking to a dog........who is no longer here...........and there will be more fun stories!

Have a joyful, delightful, amazing weekend!

Smiles!
Cheri

Making A List And Checking It Twice

My son has fallen head over heals in love!

He has been down this road before.....a road that had a few bumps and then the final crash........It was a hard road for all of us to travel........especially Josh.

Now he is getting a second chance at love........to a beautiful, beautiful girl.........you would love her for who she is because she is very special......

God sent.............?

It has all come upon us very fast.

She has a daughter, Bonnie, 2 1/2.......I will be an instant grandma should this all work out.......

Every night when my thoughts are trying to settle into sleep, wonder keeps my mind in a whirl.

Another daughter, a granddaughter, my son's new life.......Like the wind that is whipping my trees around this morning........big life changes......coming so quickly without a chance to hold them back.........

Years ago Josh told me that he had made a list that contained all of the things he wanted in his future wife........I asked him to read me his list........He got about halfway through........his words came to a sudden halt when I said, "Josh, that sounds just like your mother!!!!"

You should have seen the look on his face!

He didn't think so!!!!

I don't know if he still has that list or not.....I wonder if he has given that old list much thought. Martha came in and stole his heart so quickly......before his mind had much time to consider past requirements.

The first list contained things he really wanted in a wife.........

But I have been wondering if he should add things that he would choose to live with if and when he finds that Martha is not perfect...........according to his idea of perfect.......

I was wondering if he and she could live with the "naughty and nice" we all have as humans and still choose to make their home a happy haven........

It is easy to see the "nice" on this side of things..........

And the "naughty" we all have different ideas of it's real definition.......don't we?

Those things we expect from others.........standards we have set for ourselves and expect others to reach....or sometimes we expect others to reach whether we reach them ourselves or not........

Josh has made his list........I hope he checks it twice........

I hope Martha has a list.........and she is double checking as well.......

And may the Lord give His grace in abundant measures.........

because that is what we all need to make relationships survive........isn't it?

Blessings,

Cheri

Tangles

My heart is in a mess of tangles.

Tangles from the past have lost their hold on me.

Fear is gone.......

Hopelessness gone........

Despair removed..........

New tangles have formed.....

I am tangled with joy.......like my Christmas lights from last years tree...... tangled to the point of no return but they continue shining without despair.....Your joy entangles me.........

I am tangled with your peace....... like the lovely skirt that graces our Christmas tree.......Your peace embraces me......

Tangles of love.......I risk these tangles.......knowing my heart could be broken......safe only with You........willingly I surrender to commitments, promises, friends, family........and like the ornaments that I cherish, that hang from our tree, others risk the tangle with me.........hanging in there when times are tough........

Past tangles no longer hurt..........wounds have finally rested from their throbbing.

New life breathes it's breath into me.......it is invigorating......now I am trusting the Lord with all that entangles me.........

Blessings,

Cheri