Day 2

I didn't write about it, but we did officially kick off TCB yesterday as planned. We gave our first Christmas verse book to the Chancellor who finalized the adoption. And I didn't mention it yesterday, but I am thrilled that December is here. I feel that for our family this season is going to be special-- I don't know how things will play out and I definitely don't know what God has planned for us, but I do feel an anticipation of what He's going to show me and what He will do in my heart.

Something that I'm a little worried about is that this will come across to some as a time for me to see how much good I can do during the Christmas season. I can see how that conclusion could be drawn, but I'm going to go on anyway in hopes that most people get it - that it's not about seeing how much I can do, or donate, or participate in. Rather, it's about being available to be used this year so that we can experience the fullness of the season, instead of living in the superficial, commercialized version that is everywhere.

I'm afraid that some years I have missed it. I've walked away from December having had a lot of fun, played a lot of games, opened a lot of presents, but somehow missed the deeper, much more meaningful side of what was available if I had been open to it. I don't want to miss out again!

With that in mind, I want to try and post most days in December, as an encouragement to try and make this Christmas meaningful for you and your family. I also want everyone to feel free to post anything that they were able to do to take Christmas back to the roots that it sprung from. So, no matter what the topic, know that I would love to hear from you, and hopefully we can all encourage each other and those around us to do something a little beyond ourselves.

Today me and the girls participated in a toy drive for the first time ever. Our local radio station has a toy drive every year to raise money and gifts for the children of Porter Leath, and we drove out there today to drop off our gift and help try to fill up the truck. I tried to explain it to Marianna since she was confused about who was getting the toy she had picked out. She wanted to know a person's name, so I tried to explain that we didn't know the person, but a little girl who really needed a toy was going to get it. I told her there were lots of little boys and girls who didn't have many presents, so this was our way of helping make sure they had gifts this year. That seemed to make sense to her, but when we pulled up in front of the truck, she immediately said, "Mom, do they keep all the boys and girls in that truck?" I guess it is a tough concept to get at three =). But even though that didn't totally translate, I think she did get the bigger idea because when I asked her today if we did something for someone else, she told me that we had taken a toy to a little girl who needed it. That leaves me very happy...I think, on a very basic level, she is getting it.