We had so many exciting things going on! First of all, I'm thankful that we didn't get all the snow they were expecting us to be dumped with. They are now saying we *might* have a white Christmas. I'll believe it when I see it!
Now a weekend recap....We took the girls out to Yankee Candle since we hadn't been to see all the Christmas decorations. This place holds a little "magic" for us. This past summer, we went there and they have a year round Christmas shop there. We just happened to go on the right day and Santa was there! There was a book with lists of naughty and nice names and Kacey didn't hesitate to add her name to the list. I had my camera with me that day and we asked Santa if we could take a picture? Of course! He then looked at Kacey and said "So Kacey, you're being a good girl, right?" The look on her face was priceless. She shook her head yes and as we headed out of the shop, she tugged on my shirt. "Mommy! He's the real one! Thats the REAL Santa!" I questioned WHY she thought he was the real one? "Because he knew my name!" Ahhhhhh! :) That book was there for a reason! Then just a few weeks ago, we had a moment of panic when a friend of ours wasn't watching her tongue and came out with "Oh did you all hear the Yankee Candle Santa quit and he's working at the mall now?" Kacey was sitting there with a shocked look on her face. This friend didn't only say this ONCE she said it THREE times. You see, we've always told the girls that mall Santas are Santa's helpers and they are not the real ones. Kacey was already putting that together and when we got out of church she wanted to know if that was really true? I told her that I didn't think it was and we'd make a trip to Yankee Candle to make sure! So when we got out there, she made a beeline for the back where Santa's shop is....HE'S NOT HERE!
She once again wrote her name in the big book (take notice of the Polar Bear Poop in the pic...hahaha!) and the worker overheard us talking and she tapped Kacey and said "If you're looking for Santa, he's under the big clock!" Kacey got excited and we walked out to the clock....and there he was! She stood there gazing for a moment and then we sat down at one of the tables. She kept her eyes fixed on him and then between kids in line, he looked over at her and winked his eye and waved to her. 
At that moment, I knew we'd been blessed with one more year of Santa. Whew! I really thought last year would be our last year but she proved us wrong.
She once again wrote her name in the big book (take notice of the Polar Bear Poop in the pic...hahaha!) and the worker overheard us talking and she tapped Kacey and said "If you're looking for Santa, he's under the big clock!" Kacey got excited and we walked out to the clock....and there he was! She stood there gazing for a moment and then we sat down at one of the tables. She kept her eyes fixed on him and then between kids in line, he looked over at her and winked his eye and waved to her. At that moment, I knew we'd been blessed with one more year of Santa. Whew! I really thought last year would be our last year but she proved us wrong.Saturday night, we were blessed with tickets to Disney on Ice, courtesy of Starlight's Great Escapes. It was FABULOUS! I'm not going to tell you all about it in this post because it deserves it's own post!
Sunday was "Family Day" at our house. Since we've been attending church at Coastal, we've made Sundays a day for us to spend as a family. We get up and eat breakfast together, we go to service at 9am and then we spend the rest of the day doing something together. After church this past Sunday, we came home and ate some lunch and then we bundled ourselves up for Christmas Town at Busch Gardens. We'd been trying for the last few weeks to go and something always came up or the weather wasn't cooperating. It was VERY cold but we decided we were going to go and brave the weather. It was well worth it! The shows were amazing...the lights were spectacular...and the weather was...well it was Christmasy! The fake snow that was falling made it feel so wintery and that combined with the snow that was still laying on the ground made it a very magical place to be. We only lasted 4 hours because it was just way too cold but both girls loved it. 
Now back to church...I've talked about this before but I really feel like I need to talk about it some more. I promise not to make this a long sermon but I was so moved in church this past Sunday that I need to share. We were blessed back in October to be invited to Coastal by my best friend. This past Sunday was another one of those services that I spent with tears. The topic....Peace. Pastor S unpacked what it really meant to have *peace*. Have you ever sat in church and felt like the pastor was preaching right to you? Yep! This was one of those services! He talked about Peace with God, Peace of God and Peace with others. I was ok until he got on topic about peace with others. Why? Because there are others that I don't have peace with and it is my job to seek out and restore that relationship. I must speak to that person with love, even if they are still mad at me, they can hold the anger but I will have the peace within myself. Peace with others requires EFFORT! Most of us are not willing to put forth the effort to make the peace. You may think it's easier to go on daily and sweep it under the rug since thats the easiest thing to do. You will never be at peace if you do this. Speak the truth in love and choose to bury the hatchet. Tis the season! Make the peace with that person. As I sat there thinking about who I needed to make peace with, I looked over at Kayleigh who was also choking back tears. I knew what she was thinking. She knew I knew what she was thinking. We smiled at one another with the tears rolling down our faces. I then looked past her to see my best friend sitting there choking back tears. We all had these tears for the same reasons. It's hard to hear it sometimes but there are times in our lives where we have to take the high road, stop holding those grudges and move forward with forgiveness. I know its hard...but then again...no one said it was supposed to be easy. Taking the first step toward peace is scary. You don't know how the other person is going to accept it. But when you get it off your chest then you have the peace to be able to move forward spiritually. Pick up the phone. Make the call. Tell that person you love them. Tell that person you are sorry. Tell that person you forgive them. We're not guarenteed tomorrow but we are guarenteed the chance to have peace TODAY....NOW is the time!
Ephesians 4:3
"Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace." (NLT)
Ephesians 4:3
"Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace." (NLT)
OK...I'm getting off my soapbox now. Thank you all for bearing with me. I know there are many of you out there that are not religious and I respect that so please do the same for me. Thank you!
As for the diabetes front....Kacey MUST be growing again because even with the basal changes in her pump, she's still hitting sugars in the 400-500 range. We've changed sites, changed insulin and she's still running high so we're saying its growth or those dreaded hormones again. As for Kayleigh, she's staying in range and she's making sure she eats every 2-3 hours so there have been no signs of any lows.
So with all the hustle and bustle...I hope each of you is having an amazing time this Christmas and my wish for you.... PEACE!
(((HUGS))) to you all!
1 comment:
Good for you, sounds like you are having a fun holiday season, and it's awesome that you've found a church home. I think without our church home and without having God in our lives, there's no way I'd be able to make it thru all the trials I have. Peace is something wonderful and worth striving for. I know it's hard, I have a hard time with it myself sometimes, I'm always working at it. Merry Christmas to you and your sweet family.
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