heatherkess's Xanga

One Week To Go

Wed, 14 May 2008 01:25:40 GMT

One week to go. Yay I am excited. My best friend from North Carolina is in for an entire 13 days! I am going to hang out with said best friend Wednesday; clean and cook for my grandparents and babysit Thomas on Thursday; going to the Symphony on Friday after David's official cap and gown graduation and ceremony; attending a grad-party on Saturday and hang out with best friend, check on grandparents; hosting a BBQ on Sunday (after a belated Mother's Day Brunch); helping my grandparents on Monday; last minute prep on Tuesday; and delivering on Wednesday. David will officially start his new job on Monday. I am working my last night (for now anyway) tonight. I planned a business meeting with a potential bride exactly one week after my scheduled c-section (just to spice things up a bit). Hannah Akin and I are going to walk 6 miles this Thursday at Creve Coeur Park. And that is the overview of the countdown to baby #2. Woo Hoo!

Ready and Waiting

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 23:28:33 GMT

I guess nesting finally kicked in. I have been cooking, cleaning, gardening, and trying to complete as many unfinished projects as possible before the baby comes. I have the diaper bag packed and all the baby clothes washed. We have exactly three weeks left. Yay! I am excited and nervous at the same time. Mostly excited. Sarah is coming in for almost two weeks and I can't wait. David is graduating and having a party three days before baby arrives (assuming he doesn't arrive early). Fun! Fun!

Monday, February 04, 2008

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 00:21:02 GMT

For those of you who don't know the Kesselring family that well, it may come as a surprise that we are expecting a boy. We have three names picked out, 1) August Tristan, 2) Christian Wycliffe 3) Dylan Thomas. We probably won't make the final decision until shortly before the little guy's arrival. I spent pretty much all of October, November, and part of December in bed. It was a horrible time that I won't delve into. Overall this pregnancy has been much different than the previous ones, and I am decidedly not one of those coveted moms who "just love being pregnant". I wish I were, than maybe David could reach his dream of ten kids, as it is they just won't all be biological unless of course God decides to start giving us multiples.

Once out of bed and catching up on life after the holidays, I had the opportunity to spend 5days in Louisville, KY with my lovely sister-in-law, two nephews and Warren. It was a lot of fun though I missed David desperately. Once back to St. Louis I attempted to get into the swing of things with work, coaching, business, Tyler's school, and many projects in need of attention. Unfortunately my grandfather had a stroke and we made 16 visits over the two and half weeks that followed to hospital and rehab. In between times having to deal with legal issues and family stresses that still aren't resolved. We are now in limbo, not sure at what point he will be going to his home or whether or not we will be living with them. God is so good to continually enlighten me to the fact that I am so not in control of my life nor can I plan ahead as much as I would like.

The flu struck our house as it has many other families I know. That was fun, especially considering our washing machine was broken. I don't reccommend it. Stomach flu and no washer are a bad combination. It really is kind of funny over the past month and a half David has had to replace every faucet in our home along with the fridge, washer, and stove. We joked that the only thing left was the dishwasher and furnace, since then the furnace man has been out twice, so now we are down to the dishwasher. I am assuming the dryer is safe since it was replaced it a couple of years ago. Despite this God continually shows us His provision for our needs. David found a Oreck vaccuum in perfect condition for free one week before our vaccuum broke. The Cordners offered us a free stove/oven for free two weeks before ours went out. The fridge and washer we purchased used, for very good prices and I love both of them so much more than the ones I had prior. So really I can't complain. It is more humorous than anything. Though David has said he doesn't want to fix anything else, at least for a little while.

David has a defense date set. YAY!!!! Feb 20th is the actual date of completion, than it is onto a real job, and hopefully health insurrance before the baby comes. We are really excited. David has so much to do and is working really hard to finish his thesis. I am so incredibly proud of him, words cannot even express. We would love prayer that God would open a door to a job that David will enjoy while at the same time be able to be used by God and provide well for our family.

Well that pretty much brings things up to date in a nutshell.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 14:00:30 GMT

Yesterday we had our annual Kesselring Apple-picking Event, only without the apples. We arrived at Yates Orchard to find they were completely out of apples. Nada, Zilch, Nothin'!!! Apparently their trees were terribly affected by the frost and they had only a margin crop this year.Not to be deterred in our day of fun and fall festivities. We walked around the town of Grafton, browsing in some of the shops and ending up at the ice cream shop for some cones and sundaes. Mrs. Miller wasn't too dissapointed since she found a beautiful table for their house at one of the shops.

We stopped at the store on our way back to buy apples for the pies and returned home for apple bobbing, a dougnut eating contest, outdoor viewing of the Princess Bride, and lots of food and friends to share it with. It was a lot of fun.

Friday, August 24, 2007

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 05:48:26 GMT

    So the past few entries have been full of all that occupies our leisure time, the external. Finally I shall delve into the part of my life that leaves me bare and vulnerable for all who choose to see. I guess I should preface this entry by re-iterating my heart's cry to God that he would give me more love. I need more love. I want more love. I want to be able to love all people regardless of anything other than how God wants me to love all people.I want to know when to just hold someone and lovingly listen and when to be able to look someone in the eye and say "you need to change..." while at the same time loving them enough to give my life for them or live my life in sacrifice to them.

    I don't have that kind of love. I want to see someone exactly as God sees me. Which would be frightfully scary if He viewed me the same way I all too often view others. It's not that I don't give my time to others, it's not that I have more time to give to others than I already give it's more that I want to know that the time I do give is not motivated by anything selfish inside me and that I would not feel guilty for all the others out there that are vying, begging, pleading, screaming for my time. I want to die knowing that I gave my all and that all I gave was to whom God willed. I find myself jealous and struggling to have more quality time with my son and husband and yet I am becoming increasingly aware that time is such a precious commodity that is fleeting and there are other people God has in my life to minister to.

    So here I am sitting at work 1:46 am typing to you as I sit at my patients bedside. She is 42 years old with Multiple Sclerosis (deterioration of her muscles in a nutshell) She has lost full mobility in her hands and arms, has basically no control over her head neck and legs. If not for 24 hour care she would lie in her own waste.She has a tracheotomy, a feeding tube, and requires help simply to scratch an itch. I recently cared for her mother who at 75 is a lung cancer survivor. I am struck by the fact that I still have the nerve to complain about anything. Yet this isn't an isolated case, anyone who reads this story has one of their own; maybe many, to share as well.
    In my humanity I struggle as my flesh rages and wars against my desire for obedience to God. Obedience with joy. There are so many things I am grateful for. God is doing such a mighty work in our lives right now. But it hurts. He is stretching me and it hurts. I am in agony right now. I don't like the pain, in fact I writhe against it. But praise God He loves me enough to let me hurt, and cry, and grow.

    My story begins in South St. Louis June 2007. I am preparing to leave for work. Once more I find myself crying on David's shoulder as I beg God for an excuse to not leave my family for the alternative of caring for my most dreaded patient. Dragging my feet the clock finally pressures me to leave the comfort of my home and go to this, this house. A house where love fails to exist a house where love has never existed except for in a very worldly twisted and grotesque definition of the word "love". A place where three marriage vows have been broken, where children have been beaten, profanities proclaimed. A place where I entered and the Spirit of God would literally feel like it was being choked out of me. I have never had to endure so many hours of Spritual Warfare as that. Not even my Wash-U debate with the Gay Panel and a predominately alternative lifestyle ....audience; as hostile as they were, even they didn't hold a candle to the oppression I felt or the tears I cried in this house. My patient was bitter, she mocked and made fun of me. She had no use for God or anything to do with Him. She had a nephew that said things to me that made my skin crawl. She had a son that hated her almost as much as she hated him. She had a family full of members anxious for her to die just so they could claim their part of the inheritance.

    Yet, this most unlovable of women, God wanted me to love. This place I dreaded, God wanted me to go to. So I arrived and I interrupt the report when I hear that our patient had been saying the Lord's prayer. The nurse asks if I am a Christian and then proceeds to tell me that the patient had professed her need of a Saviour, confessed her sins, and has been crying out to God ever since. Tears start pouring down my face as she relays how at least six of the other nurses had been witnessing to her as well. The nurse then encourages me to go into her room and feel the peace that now resides in that place, after we pray, I head back to the room. There before me lies a woman peaceful, for the first time I've seen her this way in 7 months. She takes my hand and I begin with tears streaming down stroking her face loving her, telling her about Jesus, praying, reading scripture, and singing praises to God. She is blessing me in the place of cursing, she is crying, praying, repeating the things I am telling her. At one point in the night we had this sweet moment where she woke up crying from a dream. I quickly took her hand and asked what was wrong , to which she responded "They won't let me in, I don't have the right shoes", I started crying and re-assured her that the beauty of grace and salvation is going to the cross with nothing, going just as we are. She went back to sleep

    Next shift, I arrive and find she has slipped back to old ways cursing, complaining, seeing dead people, fitful, hallucinating. I am trying to love her, love her despite herself, and continue to witness. Finally as I am trying to feed her she has been little by little trying to annoy me, mock me, then she takes a hold of my hair and yanks it. I run out of the room crying, grab my cell phone and as I am justifying my call to the office requesting they not send me back. The voice of God speaks to me so clearly that "I need to stop trying to love people in my own strength" I sank, convicted, I saw an image of her lying there and realized that if not for the love of God that was me, that vile woman lying there, bitter, and unlovely was me. There was, has, and never will be anything I do that will merit anything better than her worst effort in life but for the love of God. I melted, cried out to God for His strength and received a beautiful illustration of His power made perfect through my weakness. Because in that instant a love so indescribable flooded me overwhelmed me and I ran right back into that room and loved on her, kissed on her, and professed Jesus Christ as Lord.

    The next few shifts with her where bittersweet as I continued to love her, pray over her and profess Christ to her. She drifted in and out of reality accepting the things which I spoke to her and sometimes being so far from reality she had no idea who I was or why I was there. Unfortunately the last night I spent with her she was delirious. Her daughter-in-law informed one of our employees that our company cost too much money (even though it was the patient's money paying for our care) and that not another penny was going to be spent, in fact that money was going to put their grandkids through college among other things. And so it was, our shifts were cancelled and she was put in a facility where she died the next week.

    A month later I get a call from our adoption agency that there is a birth mom who is in a domestic violence situation and needs a place to live. She has a 1 year-old boy and is 7 months pregnant. She is the second birth mom we've housed, our last experience wasn't so positive. David prays about it and decides we need to do this. So we accept. In preparation for her arrival I am dealing with a flood of emotions. Tyler has been going through a lot of separation anxiety lately, crying as I leave for work, crying when we leave him only for a couple hours, not wanting to spend the night with my grandparents or stay with David's parents. So the guilt is building that I will be spending less time with him as I care for these people in addition to having a full work load- 40 hours over the next four nights. More love God, I need more love.

    Tomorrow is day five of this experience and as I soaked in the tub I reflected over the past week. It is a strange dichotomy having a woman living in your home about to give birth to a baby she cannot/does not want to keep while I am painfully reminded by my cycle that I am not carrying a baby that I desperately want to have and can't afford to adopt the baby she does not want.

     As I am dealing with this range of emotions I arrived at work to relieve someone that I have always had trouble accepting. She never seemed "for real". Have you ever met those people who are always happy always caring about you, always happy to be at work loving what they do, even when what they do is caring for vile, bitter, dying, people? And you're like this has to be superficial, they can't be like this all the time, they can't be "for real"? Well there she was happy and bubbly not trying to rush home after a 12hour shift, asking me how my life was, and there I was having no time with my husband hurting emotionally by my barrenness over the past several years, mourning the loss of the past two pregnancies, a little stressed by the hiccup in our routine and yet wanting peace with where God has me. My complaint isn't because I feel like I am supposed to be somewhere else in my life as much as it is a general mourning over the sinful state of life and lack of contentment at times on my part.

    What I actually mumbled was something like "doing great, staying busy, have a birth mom with us, David's still is school, Tyler is doing well." She could have said that's great and left, it is what I expected, but she wanted more info. I delved a little deeper into my life, and she pried a little more, and then her life story unfolded and all my defenses came tumbling down. She was an only daughter of five with a deaf mom and an alcoholic father who beat them all regularly, growing up in a cold water flat shared with rats and roaches. The only time there was ever steak in the house is when her father emptied his pockets and sent her down to the meat mkt. to get a steak to cover the bruises left on her deaf mother's eyes.

    She vividly remembers a time when she was twelve, coming home with her father on top of her youngest brother who by that time had turned blue. Her father was so drunk he didn't realize his son couldn't breathe. In an attempt to save her brother's life she mustered all the strength and courage she had and plowed into her father knocking her brother free. Her father in rage beat her to a bloody pulp as the rest of the family remained paralyzed by fear. When he was finally done he got up and commanded that she never interfere again with the disciplining of his children.Unable to get up she painfully crawled away. As always he had no recollection of what transpired the morning after his stupor had worn off. For a year she couldn't smile without her lip splitting back open and she now has a visible scar from that incident.Another time he knocked her so hard she landed in the next room of the house. To this day she can hear the typically loud sounds that eminate from someone who is deaf and said that when her father was beating her mother she would let out a bone-chilling scream that would make your blood curdle.

    At 17 she left the home of her father who told her he never wanted a daughter anyway and that she was dead to him. This was just a verbal confirmation of what she already knew by the fact that he always had beaten her the hardest. She walked away and never looked back. But her story does not end there. At some point along the way God reached out and she responded to the call.

    One day her mom goes into the hospital, the next day her father goes in, the following day her daughter is diagnosed with cancer. As a struggling divorcee trying to scrape together enough to pay the bills and raise her family, she takes her mother in to care for her and show her a lifestyle alternative.Due to her new love of God and trust in Him she was prompted by the need of forgiveness to go and talk to her dad. She walked in to see a bitter haggard old man wreaking as he lay in his own urine. He had no idea who she was. She introduced herself her intention for coming proclaimed her forgiveness and pleaded with him to make things right with God. That was to be the last time she would see him alive. To her dismay after her father was released from the hospital, her mom went back, back to the filth, the rats, the roaches and the beatings. Finally a neighbor responding to the screams called the police. Her mother was placed on hospice, her father institutionalized eventually going on hospice. They both died shortly thereafter.

     She sat at the funeral on one side the dis-inherited with her youngest brother, her four remaining brothers on the opposite side, all alcoholics and hostile towards her. At the end she requested the casket remain open, approached, gave all remaining baggage and forgiveness, prayed that he had made things right and than looked up to have her brother echo in her ear the reminder that she was the unwanted daughter. She acknowledged this, knowing her value came from the Lord.

    As if all of this wasn't enough to jolt me she went on to talk about how much she loves this job, she loves the people the opportunities to love them. And it is true, I have never witnessed her coming to a patient's home without a goodie bag for them and a day full of fun and laughter planned. She has never hurried off. She visits patients on her off time, on her lunch breaks, from her other job. She visited our patient even after the family took us off the schedule. She went to the funeral with packets prepared for all the members, witnessed to them and shared the love she had for this unlovely lady. She never complains about patients, she calls them all her friends. She fills in for people at work no questions asked. She is truly a delight and everyone loves her. So it is for real, it is the real deal, the real and genuine love that only comes from knowing the Lord.

    As her story came to an end, she apologized for sharing something she rarely shares with others, commenting that there must be a reason, all I could do was smile and nod, knowing in my heart there was a reason. And then pausing she looked me in the eye and locked my gaze it was to be the final arrow once again piercing my soul "You know Heather, there are a lot of "I's" in the world and not enough "we's". The rest of what she told me will remain between me and her, but suffice it to say she left in traditional fashion not hurried, 45 minutes after clocking out with a smile on her face and joy in her heart. I stood in the door crying and thanking God.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 01:56:58 GMT

Well, we delivered Simon back to Louisville, in one piece.We only had a few minor accidents, nothing that could top Simon's tumble down the steps last October. Oh yes, Tyler remains notorious in Louisville for that and hopefully that will someday fade from the memory of all who are enlightened. We definately kept the boys very busy. After utterly exhausting them over the first weekend they took a four-and-a-half hour nap! We did it all: Children's Garden at the Botanical Garden, Grant's Farm, the Zoo, the Ranch, Fireworks, slip and slide, lots of swimming, cousins portraits, baseball, McDonalds. I was exhausted. But it was a blast. On the way back he was so anxious to get home I thought he might not have enjoyed his stay and would never want to come back. But he warmed my heart by his pleas of coming home with us again. We love you Simon, and enjoyed having you. David said he hopes this becomes at least an annual tradition. But know that you are always welcome.

Once in Louisville we stayed at Tamara's absolutely adorable apartment. I am inspired to re-do our bathroom now, as a result of her very retro, very nifty decor. I am, as she aptly put it going to embrace our 1950's pale green tile and run with it. Conveniently enough I found a striped retro shower curtain exactly like hers while we were garage saling, which is so very exciting. Tamara was the perfect hostess and introduced us to some lovely shops in Louisville. We had a lot of fun visiting and can't wait to go back and see more of what Louisville has to offer. It is such a great place to go. Fortunately we didn't have to mourn our departure as Tamara is now staying with us for four days this week.

BTW Athena, if you read this: Not only do I have the blue green color paint, we also have a deep burgundy/rose red from a recent job that might work in the living room. David thinks we should be able to get back for a weekend in early fall. He would be happy to help Warren with a project, or said we could all paint and knock off the whole endeavor in that time.

It was also wonderful to see Warren and Athena, Ben and Sarah and Kariss Hedrick. We were delighted to be able to celebrate Simon's Birthday and meet more of their delightful friends. What an absolutely real and loving church family they have. I have never witnessed a church more integrated and committed to community , and am ashamed of how sheltered I am from that which does not appeal to my county lifestyle. It is so much easier to love and help from a distance. I still have so much to learn about real love. Thank God He has not given up on me.

And back to my life in the suburbs. With Tamara in, we are enjoying coffee shops (yay for Kaldis Mayan Mochas, and Coffee Kartels 24 hour service), garage saling, thrift stores, good food, the Whittaker Jazz Festival and Red Box. Tomorrow we will trek down to The Hill for authentic Italian food and cheap spices, hopefully stopping by some antique stores on our way home. Friday we are going to do Mexican and see the Napolean Exhibit at the Art Museum, used book store hunting and who knows...

Once again, I love summer in St. Louis and summertime in general. At least all the insane busyness is a delight.

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Wed, 04 Jul 2007 01:10:45 GMT

Happy Independance Day! Thank you Father for all the freedoms you have blessed us with above all the Freedom to Worship.

Well as usual, I am writing another sporatic entry. The newest news is that Simon is coming to stay with us for a week, and we are really looking forward to having him. Tyler can't wait. We have really been enjoying our summer, participating in all the wonderful free summer activities that St. Louis has to offer. Shakespearre in the Park, the Whittaker Festival, the Zoo, free concerts, tennis, etc... We have also been going out to the ranch and swimming alot. Last week we decided to be adventerous and take a real mountain bike ride. We had Tyler with us (on the back of David's bike) and took a trail we had never been on before. It was quite the exciting ride, there were several places where the road was too rough or steep and we had to get off and walk. We came back completely muddy and my clothes were ruined, but it was the most fun I have had in a long time. Then we picked blackberries and got scratched up, after all of that the pool felt soooo good.

We are going to be out-of-town quite a bit this summer, taking a trip to Louisville, to see Tamara (yay finally!) and of course Warren and Athena. I'll get to see if she is really as big as she says (I am betting she makes a pretty cute pregnant lady) :). Then Tamara will be staying with us the following week for several days, and we will make our usual fun shopping and entertainment rounds. Tyler and I are going to spend a week in NC with my best friend and god-daughter staying at their beach house, which Tyler is really looking forward to. Not only because he loves Zoe, but also the ocean and Einstein the Boston Terrier. Following that David and I are going to try to get away for a while before he digs in and starts his thesis (this trip will be made possible by my uncle and aunt) "Thank you Ed and Cathy". We are still contemplating a weekend trip to visit Jon and Theresa in Chicago.

I love summer-time. I love summer in St. Louis. I love the Muny, I love Ted Drews, I love the Cicadas, I love baseball, I love swimming, I love everything else associated with summer. Summer evenings with my grandparents, or other family and friends. Summer evenings with David and Tyler, dinners outside, gardening, bike riding, walks. Oh well I should stop now. My next entry will probably be more sobering as I share more of the nitty gritty things going on in our lives at the present, but for now I revel in the lighter side of life and ignore the long hours, the sleepless nights, the chastening and the growth. God is good and his promise to continue His work in our life is ever-present.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 09:17:39 GMT

Last update I was visiting my best friend in NC, now she is here visiting us. Yay! Life is pretty much the same. The boys and girls volleyball team I am coaching are getting ready to begin their competitive season, which is exciting. Tyler celebrated his 4th birthday and I am having a blast watching him develop academically. He is grasping new concepts and enjoying the little bit of school we do, very much. I am learning how much fun this homeschooling thing is. What a journey it will be.

David met with his committee to review his progress and they said he should be on track to finish around Christmas time 2007. Which is what keeps me going at work these days, since every fiber of my being longs to be home at night with my family. This job is still a huge blessing, but I am more convinced every day that it was not intended this way. My hours haven't slowed down and I think I am going to need a better excuse like morning sickness or something to cut back. By the way, surgery went well, and we will find out May 14th whether or not the septum in my uterus grew back or if we get the okay to get pregnant. I am praying for twins and would appreciate any prayers in that direction. I am feeling the need to make up for lost time :).

I can't wait for warmer weather so I can get out and do some serious gardening. Next week we are going to stay with my five cousins while my uncle and aunt are in Europe for twelve days. Tyler is really excited and so am I, it is always good practise for having a larger family since we will be juggling 8 different work, school, volleyball, baseball, church and after-school schedules. They really are fun kids and I think it will be a crazy insane blast!

Well, I could go on but instead I will save the rest for another time.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 21:53:29 GMT

My entries are so sporatic and judging by my day planner things aren't going to get much better anytime soon. Warren and Athena's wedding was a success, but I guess the only way for an unsuccessful wedding would be if the bride and groom were not pronounced man and wife. Right? Anyway, it was a beautiful ceremony, Athena had lots of great ideas and it was by far the best wedding sermon ever!!! Their pastor is incredible. Warren was impressive in proper Kesselring manner and made a gorgeous and delicious wedding cake.

We were duly surprised when we recieved a call from Athena on the Sunday they were returning from the Smokeys to ask what our plans were for the next four days. They had decided to come in for a visit. I don't know many couples who would be willing to sacrifice their time off, post-honeymoon and visit family out-of-state, but in what is becoming Warren and Athena fashion they did just that, and it was a blast.

The remaining two weeks of January I worked 120 hours. My last night I was prepared to leave for NC in the morning and it decided to snow. No problem right since I don't have to be at the airport until 9:30 am? Unfortuanately St. Louis drivers don't know how to drive in snow and traffic was horrific. So as I am navigating side streets, I call Hotwire to ask what my options are in case I don't make it by 9:30 only to find out that my plane leaves at 9:30 I was supposed to be at the airport at 8:30. Oops. Realising this and that I am only now in Kirkwood I figure I won't make it since my flight is not delayed, so I resolve to spend the rest of the day on standby. Long story short I make it to the airport at 9:08 race to my gate find out my flight is delayed, make it to Chicago find out my next flight is delayed and finally arrive at my destination at 4pm. So I spent most of the day at or in the plane, but on my original flights.

So here I am in NC with my best friend and her beautiful baby Zoe, and her ever so doting husband. As good as it is to see her though, I am desperately homesick. The time off from work will be nice because as soon as I get back home, unless my schedule has changed its back to work the next night and for nine straight night thereafter, off a night and on again several more. Then I have surgery. Yay! So I really can't complain about all the work because it will pay for the surgery. God is good and always provides exactly what we need when we need it. Then well lets just hope I get a chance to update sometime after that.

Happy Valentines!

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 02:09:15 GMT

Happy Belated St. Nicholaus Day! Merry Christmas! Happy Nativity! Happy Channukah! I am so excited about the holidays. We have made our gingerbread houses, trimmed our tree, decorated the house, and now it is filled to the brim with the sights, sounds, and smells associated with so many of my childhood Christmas memories.We are still struggling through the German version of "Oh Christmas Tree", but we should have it memorized by Christmas Eve (whether or not we pronounce everything correctly, wellllll we'll see). David, Tyler, and I have filled our evenings with baking and preparing homemade gifts. Everything from chocolate truffles to monogrammed napkins. I am ecstatic with delight.

We kicked it off with a St. Nicholaus Day celebration, David did the research and the Bible study that evening after everyone found a small gift in their shoes the morning of. If you haven't studied St. Nick I would encourage you to do so. I love the fact that Tyler will grow up knowing the true story behind this wonderfully benevolent human being.

Now as the advent progresses we have shifted our focus to the nativity and all the delights of putting together special gifts for the ones we love to celebrate this most wonderful time of the year. Christmas, Easter and Independence Day are my absolute favorite holidays. I love the fact that the festivities surrounding Christmas last so long (though when it's all over it still seems too short). I delivered our first goody bag this evening and it was so much fun. I love the house calls, the hustle and bustle, the general excitement most people feel as we draw nearer to the day.

I am especially enjoying the challenge of converting John from his "Bah Humbug" self to someone that isn't just a bystander or involuntary participant to a delightful joyous reveller of this most Merry Christmas time! It's been a slow process but I at least have him convinced for the sake of his future wife and children that he must break the chains so that he doesn't spoil it for them. He has made huge steps since last Christmas and I figure we have at least two more Christmas' with him, so by 2009 he should be a changed man.

Tyler is so much more participatory than he has been before. I love being a mom, and seeing the wonder and excitement in the eyes of my child that hasn't been to this extent before.

I have really been convicted lately about giving and the joys of giving, not just giving but giving beyond what is comfortable. Between C.S. Lewis chapter on giving in Mere Christianity, and our pastors recent sermons, to lately reading A Christmas Carol I was really excited to see the way God truly blesses our unselfishness. Praise God for His amazing faithfulness to us even in our weaknesses.