The 12 Days of Christmas

For the past twelve days, our family has been the happy recipient of Christmas love and cheer from an unknown Do Gooder. We really have no idea who it is. There was a lot of sneakery and staying up late at night for them to put all the gifts on our porch without us hearing them. Angie is up late every night with Briggie and I wake up early in the morning to start my routine.

One night was a little different, though. We heard what sounded like someone tripping on our wooden porch and making a loud thump! We didn't want to run outside to see who it was and spoil the fun. A minute later there was a loud knock on our porch window.

That's odd.

I slowly rose from the couch and looked out the front door's window. There was a plate full of sugary delights. That's when we realized the purpose for the non-sneakery for one night. Those home-baked goodies would have been enjoyed by Ohioan fauna (namely, raccoons and neighborhood cats) before we found them the next morning. Nice move, Do Gooders! And well made!

Our Christmas season has been one of the best that I can remember because of the love and care shown to our family. We have, in turn, decided to help others more than we normally would have. And we tried extra hard to teach our kids that the true meaning of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We talked about the symbols that remind us of gospel truths and signs of Christ's birth. We also taught our boys to be grateful for what gifts they do receive on Christmas morning because it won't be everything they asked for.

We are so blessed. We see the tender mercies of the Lord all around us and feel the love of...someone...doing good and spreading Christmas cheer.

Sariah, Concerned Mother of Four Sons

Lehi, the first prophet in the Book of Mormon, was commanded to leave Jerusalem in 600 B.C. and take his family with him. We know that Lehi's two oldest sons, Laman and Lemuel, went grudgingly. They had a rebellious streak a mile wide all their lives. Lehi's two younger sons, Sam and Nephi, were obedient and often reminded their older brothers to keep the commandments.

Well, today I read the part in the Book of Mormon where Lehi and his family were far from Jerusalem and he was commanded to send his sons back to get some important records. What did Laman and Lemuel do? You guessed it. What did Sam and Nephi do? Correct. 

What did Lehi's wife do? We don't find out until the boys return from their trip. It was going to be very dangerous and Sariah was very worried about them. She complained to her husband, the prophet, for sending all of their sons to their death. She told her husband "that he was a visionary man; saying: Behold thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, and my sons are no more, and we perish in the wilderness." (1 Ne 5:2)

Lehi replied to Sariah and I can hear the tenderness in his words. "And it came to pass that my father spake unto her, saying: I know that I am a visionary man; for if I had not seen the things of God in a vision I should not have known the goodness of God, but had tarried at Jerusalem, and had perished with my brethren." (1 Ne 5:4)

Lehi had a testimony of the Lord's commandments. He also knew his sons would be safe on their journey. When the boys finally returned with the records, "their joy was full, and my mother was comforted. And she spake, saying: Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee [and] hath protected my sons." (1 Ne 5:7-8)

It is very interesting to me that Sariah didn't have a testimony of the Lord's command to leave Jerusalem and find the promised land until after they had set out and faced some challenges. She must have been a remarkable woman of faith and after this trial she was blessed with greater understanding of the Lord's will.

We all gain testimonies at different times and in different ways. I know that if we listen to the Lord and follow His prophets we you will be comforted, blessed and strengthened.

I Am So Excited About Christmas!

Our decorated Christmas Tree, plus boys.
Ya, that's a Santa hat on the angel.

I just love Christmas. My favorite parts are 1) the music and 2) that people are a lot nicer to each other than during the rest of the year.

I listen to lots of Christmas music starting the day after Thanksgiving until some time between Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. I don't really have anything against listening after the new year, but I do try to be thankful for Thanksgiving and give it every day it deserves. So I respectfully wait until I wake up Friday morning to begin listening to my favorite music. It's one of my ways to be thankful for Thanksgiving. But this post is about Christmas!

So I crank the Christmas music for hours every day. We have lots of CDs at my house with a variety of musical goodness. I had my favorites before I got married. They were pretty much what I grew up listening to at home. After I got married I also listened to a bunch of my wife's favorites. Now, with free music sites like Pandora and a host of other sites, the variety of songs keeps me going longer before I feel like I just can't listen to them any more.

When Christmas is over and the cheer wears off a bit, so does my desire to keep hearing the songs. Part of the magic for me is looking forward to Christmas Day. So when the Day is over and thoughts set in of going home from vacation or going back to work, I ease up on the listening until I stop all together. It's just a natural change of focus so there's no set day for me.

Now, fast forward to July. There's a bio-clock that goes off inside me in July to hear more of my favorite Christmas songs. Maybe it's subconsciously bestowed upon me by song Christmas in July. Maybe. But probably not. I'm not sure. But I do hum or sing a few songs to myself in the heat of the summer. Then I tell myself it's just silly and I get on with my non-December, non-Christmas life.

Every year, after the summer ends there is a fun build up of holidays and celebrations. I'm not sure why I get so excited during the fall, but I guess my birthday, Halloween and Thanksgiving are enough to get me over the dreary fact that the days are getting shorter and colder. But the week or two before Thanksgiving I'm chomping at the bit for some happy Merry Christmas tunes.

Aaaaaahhhhhh........

Christmas is coming!

Someone Paid For Your Food

Angie and I have gone on a date nearly every week since we got married. Spending time away from home and from the kids each week is a great way that we have found to relax from the day to day busy-ness and to enjoy each other's company. We put a high priority on our marriage and family happiness and this does wonders for us. Most of the time we go out to eat and talk about stuff that has been going on. Stuff for her, stuff for me, stuff about the boys. There have been times where we run out of things to talk about and we just stare at each other and snicker.

I just love it. Sometimes I just watch her when she's cutting her next few bites of burrito and she thinks I'm doing the same. She's so nice to look at and she warms my heart. Only when she looks up does she catch me showing my affection toward her with a big grin on my face. "What are you laughing at?" she usually asks. Then I tell her that I love her tons and we go on with our meal...talking or staring. :)

Well, there's an awesome Mexican restaurant where we eat often. This place is really popular and busy. We see someone we know there every few times we go, which is a lot of fun. This week saw two families that we know. We visited briefly with each of them and then got down to business.

The business of eating.

We were the last to arrive and we were the last to leave. After we ate we asked for some more chips and salsa. Yum. Then we talked for so long that we figured the waiter forgot about us. It was really weird. After a really long time, a different waiter came walking along holding fried ice cream. It's really good stuff, but he made eye contact and I didn't want him to ask me if we saved any room for dessert so I averted my eyes. He marched right up to our table and said, "Someone paid for your food and they bought you this."

We were floored.

This is the kind of thing that you do to be sneaky and nice for someone else, not the kind of thing that happens to you! But it did happen. And it happened to us.

So we approached the Nice-Doers today at church. We thanked them for their surprise and she said, "Actually it was his idea." I shook his hand and he said, "I remember what it was like to be your age and in school. I thought it would be nice."

Thank you both. You made the world a better place. You strengthened our testimonies. You showed service in action and the love of the Lord toward your fellow men.

May the Lord bless you richly!