The season that I plan months for (I start shopping Dec 26 for nest year!) has come and gone. I do believe this has touched my life more than any other one. We have been blessed to have 7 children in our home this year. An 18,17,10,7,6,3,3 year old. What a joy it was to celebrate Christ's birth with them!
Our 20 year old is also doing well and has been visiting with her boyfriend. She is such a sweet, sweet young lady, and I have loved watching her grow, it has been a roller coaster ride, but she is doing fantastic now and I just pray that she continues on this path. God has such great things planned for her! We have had her since she was 13 and we just love her so much and want to see her succeed in life.
Around thanksgiving God sent us the 18 year old. She lived with her grandparents and was like a cinderella living in that house. She did everything for them and was physically, emotionally, and mentally abused by grandma. Her dad lives nearby as do her two older sisters. I guess the parents couldn't care for them. She is a wonderful young lady, and given what she has been through she is amazing. She is so helpful and caring. We helped her get her driver's license, she has a job, and will graduate high school this June. We are hoping we can help her and our 17 year old attend the local community college near us. Just a little update on where we are kid wise, LOL!
So this past year God has been allowing me to go through so many trials, and has been constantly showing me about Peace and Joy, and how it IS possible to have those IN HIM no matter what we are going through. Here are the verses that He has continually put in my life this past year.
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Romans 12:18
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5
Let all that you do be done in love. 1 Corinthians 16:14
I am going to in the next week, blog about each of those verses and how they have affected me.
But today let me tell you about our Christmas! The 22nd we went to Cornerstone church to their Christmas Concert. It was me, hubby, teenagers and their boyfriends, our three middle (the 3 yearolds were in childcare) and the grandmother of our 10 & 3 year old. The music was beautiful and I was so humbled to be taking up almost an entire pew of those who may not be blood family, but are in every way family to us. Afterwards, we ordered pizza and had a pizza night with our three oldest girls and their boyfriends. We wanted someway to get to know these boys that are in or girls lives. It was so awkward at first, LOL!!!! We have a 23 yearold inner city boy, our 20 year old, our 18 year old and her firefighter boyfriend, our 17 year old and her homeschooled, raised in a christian family 16 year old boy friend. Then us old farts! Conversation was like pulling teeth in the beginning, but loosened up.After we ate, we played apples to apples, ( great game) would you rather, (we hated this one) and taboo, (our favorite). Had some cookies and lots of laughs, so I think it was a success!
There were many changes to our normal christmas, but ones that needed to happen and I think turned out for the best. Christmas eve we delivered our cinnamon rolls to friends and family who have had a rough year or been supportive of our family. It took us 3.5 hours, we had to yell at the kids twice, but I thought that was pretty good for them being in the car that long! We started this tradition 4 years a go, and it is one of my favorite parts of the season, it's so fun playing Santa! heehee! Then we went to my mom's to celebrate with them and my younger sisters family. My mother is such an awesome cook, and she make it seem so easy. We ate the most delicious meal and then we opened gifts from each other. We needed to be out of there by 4:00 so my older sister could come and celebrate with everyone.( family drama that I mentioned before) So we decided to go to Dino's for wings! That is our favorite wing place, and it was requested by our middle munchkins! ( the teens were working and visiting their bio family) Then we went home and babies were put to bed, and we watched the Christmas Story. It was a relaxing evening! I put all the presents in piles so the kids could dive into them as soon as they awoke!
Christmas day we all went downstairs and the chaos began! The 3 year olds were so excited it was Christmas time! They thought daddy brought christmas in (the tree from the garage), I think they understand it now! LOL!! They played and I started prepping Christmas dinner. I was cooking it for the first time this year. The menu was Ham, Gruyere Gratin Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, (MIL brought them) Brussel Sprouts, and rolls. Did you know it's important to pay attention to the details while cooking? I cooked the ham in my electric roaster, I thought it was going to be a little dry,(it looked like it) but it was pretty good! The brussel sprouts were yummy! The rolls...well they were rhodes' frozen rolls, it said place on cookie sheet and let rise 3-5 hours....ummm i put them on a warm stove, and the 24 rolls each rose to the size of my hand spread open...oops! well i stuck them in the oven anyway...underneath the potatoes and sprouts....so the bottom of the rolls were extra crispy and wouldn't come out of the pan...but I served them anyways, they were still tasty:) However my gratin potatoes were more like soup and a little crunchy...i think they shouldve cooked longer and never really did thicken up....but they were still tasty too...LOL! Okay so I didn't prepare the best meal but it was yummy, I will have it perfected by next year!:) My mother in laws candied sweet potatoes were perfect! We exchanged gifts with the in laws, and had a wonderful day at home. This was the best Christmas and we were able to share it with the most amazing kids, and supportive family.
I am humbled and blessed beyond measure. I thank my God everyday for the precious gifts He has given me. Thanks for reading, and see you next time!
