Christmas blessings... ~ handmade home

Thứ Ba, 13 tháng 12, 2011

Christmas blessings...

Christmas? It seems like we've been thinking about Christmas for months... afterall we started rehearsals for three big Christmas concerts at the beginning of October. I direct, and my wife accompanies, a wonderful family with twelve children who give back to the community every year by staging a wonderful Christmas concert that helps support some great charities. They are very talented and I feel blessed to be able to coach them in this endeavor. Three thousand tickets were gone in four days for the two remaining performances this coming Saturday. In the meantime, I have to get a kidney stone blasted on Thursday and heart tests on Wednesday as I am now experiencing ventricular tachycardia and may have to get a new pacemaker/defibrillator before Christmas. I am also responsible for four worship services at church between this coming Sunday and New Year's day. On top of that, the shoulder surgery from August is pretty much a failure and the insurance company cut off my therapy about a month ago, so I am experiencing some pain and continue to learn how to adapt. I'm managing... even finished that new dragonfly shade today!

You would think I'd be stressed a bit... but you know what... I'm not in the least bit concerned. I try, in all the things that I do, to glorify the Lord and I know that He will see me through whatever comes my way. This was amazingly brought to my mind this past weekend when I was put in the direct path of a man who accomplishes wonderful things for others in a ministry that he leads... having just met, we actually ended up in the same vehicle as we prepared for the first presentaion of our Christmas concert in a community some distance from here this last Saturday. This gentleman could easily be a candidate for a heart transplant, runs totally on pacemaker power, but just keeps on serving others. It was a wonderful reminder for me... it makes no sense quitting in this world... we were put here for a reason and it is a priviledge to use our time in ways that bring joy and serve others.

Here's wishing you all a very merry Christmas. I know ours will be as this will be the first time in over twenty years that we will experience the patter of little feet coming down the stairway on Christmas morning. Our children are bringing the grandchildren home for the holidays and I am so looking forward to it! Now... need to finish that decorating stuff...

From the garden...
I took a walk today in the gardens and shot a few photos. The picture at the top shows a yellow variety of barberry that is still holding some of its fruit. We are in a period of pleasant temps but it hasn't been this way all along... we have about six inches of frost in the ground... it's been some time since we had our snow storm... November 9th to be exact.

I prefer to think of it this way... appreciate the moment but also take pleasure in the fact that in about three months there will be hellebores and daffodils in bloom... shortly after that the greenhouse will be up and running, followed by all the wonderful crabs and magnolias. Todays photos are in black and white... but I've thrown in a few reminders of what's to come as well!