What Are You Doing With Your Gift?

I told you last week that I was in the church Christmas play. (Sans the aloha shorts.)

The play was yesterday and went immeasurably better than rehearsal. Paula (who was in charge of the whole thing) said to me after it was over, "You were so much more relaxed!!! Was it the mic that helped?" Oddly enough, it was. All during rehearsal, all I heard was "We can't hear you!" Must be my soft little voice. HA! Anyway. Since I was in all five scenes, they let me wear the "Britney Spears mic" - and knowing I didn't have to worry about volume was HUGE.

Thought you might like to see the day!

This is me mentally rehearsing lines - yes DURING church.

The theme of the play was what are you doing with your gift? I was the person who moved among all the scenes, seeing what people had decided to do with their gifts. Stop one: my brother's house to see my mysteriously unsupervised nephews. They were playing with their toys - but they'd not opened their gift because it looked like too much work.

After I left their house, I went on to scene two...the return counter at Meijer, apparently. (That's where the bags were from.) There I ran into Lisa and Ann, who were returning their gifts because they just didn't work for them.

From there, I stopped by work. I'm a supervisor. (Pausing here for your laughter...)

My two smarty-pants employees were hiding their gifts under the desk so they didn't get in the way of their own agendas. (These two guys were stinking HILARIOUS!!! Hard to keep a straight face!)

And finally - to round out the day - a football party!!!

In between much football jargon (which I did not understand, but look at me fitting in!!!) we managed to discover that these guys put their gifts in the closet and they'd get them out on a need-to-use basis.

The concluding scene...check out the mic! :) I went home to journal before bed. I do not always look so pained when I journal.

Nor do I always look so loopy. Seriously Bekah!?!?!?!?!?

The point of the journaling (which I did without a pen because they forgot to leave me one! LOL!!) was to tie the previous scenes together. Loved it.

It wasn't as scary as I thought it might be. And the mic stayed on until right after this scene, when it fell off in my lap. WOOPS!

It's Christmas!!

It isn't Christmas without the traditional post of what we did...right?

We normally go to my parents' house for Christmas, so that's where the festivities took place this year. (I took macaroni and cheese. I know you wanted to know.) Lori, Jeff, and Cassie couldn't come home, so we were a few people short.

Julie and me...sisters!!

I was SO excited about this present. The only Colts gear I own is Super Bowl related, and since I'm trying to be a "real" football fan, I thought I needed a shirt to back it up. I'm EXTRA excited to have this since I needed it for the Christmas play at church today. Whew!

My sister, Lori, as you know, is from Greensburg, Kansas. They finally have enough stores rebuilt in their town post-tornado that she was able to do all her shopping in town. She was so excited! So this was one of my gifts. A super-cool (super chunky! Love it!) bracelet from Greensburg.

We all got Greensburg T-shirts, too. This one is Julie's....

And this one is mine! We can be TWINS!!!!! (You know, if I were tan like she is...)

Dad was excited about his Greensburg tornado book. We learned a few years ago that if you're going to give Dad a book, you should give it to him late in the gift game. Once he gets a book, he gets engrossed in it right away and then you've lost him.

Another Greensburg gift...garden flags for all of us! Mom thought this one was extra perfect for me, and I agree. I love all things homemade - including happiness! :)

Julie cracked up over this sign. It says "No husband has ever been shot while doing the laundry." Good work, Lori. Winner!!!

I gave several signs this year. I thought after all the home improvement projects I've asked Dad to do...this was only appropriate....

Julie opened her sign from me, which says "I didn't say it was your fault. I said I was going to blame you." She laughed and laughed until she saw that TOM had a sign too. Then she got nervous. His says, "I"m busy now. Can I ignore you some other time?" Ohhh do I know these two or what!??!"

Praise the Lord. This represents five extra minutes of sleep every morning.

Dad was digging (literally) into his new razor. I thought he was going to maim himself. It could happen, folks. When I was little, he dropped a chain saw on his hand while cutting down a tree.

My brother-in-law, Tom. AVID golfer. Happy golfer now!! :)

A new Mary Poppins bag para mi. And it's PURPLE. Yes please!!!

The official fambily photo. (Fambily is what we call family. It's not a typo.)

Me and the parentals. The parentals and me? Whatever. I have a free day from grammar.

There you have it!!!! A Freelan Christmas! It was a great day. LOVED my presents. Loved the food. Loved the fam.

And now I'll have to love me some EXERCISE!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas!!

Dear Bits Readers...


Merry Christmas!!


Matthew 7:11 says, "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"


Today is a day to celebrate a great and precious gift God gave to the whole world hundreds of years ago...in the birth of His Son.


But oh goodness...He hasn't stopped giving. He still arrives to us every day, bringing with Him gift He wouldn't have to give. Gifts we (more often than not) don't deserve. But He gives because it delights Him to see our smiles. It brings Him joy to watch our hearts overflow with pleasure.


I am so thankful for the gifts He has piled on this girl this year.


* He gave me freedom in exchange for a heart that had always been enslaved by fear.


* He gave me the opportunity to be loved, if even for a small season. It is not lost to me that some people go through years...even entire lifetimes...without knowing they're loved. I'm grateful to have experienced it.


* He gave me not one, not two, but three chances to take a vacation where I could create memories, celebrate with friends, and find healing for a wounded heart. (Best of all...a large portion of all three vacations were free!)


* He raised up friends and prayer warriors to carry me through the darkest months of my life. They hugged me, cried with me, drove many miles just to sit with me, lifted me before the Father when I could not pray for myself, encouraged me when I felt I might die, dragged me out of my house when I didn't have the strength, and even brought me food because I could not bring myself to arrange for my own meals some days.


* He kept me healthy when my eating/sleeping habits were so bad that I should have been sick. And even in the months of being unable to eat, He somehow kept me going physically.


* He preserved my job even in months when I was so broken I was incapable of doing it well. And in a world where so many struggle to find work, I do not take for granted the employment I have!


* He spoke to my heart in ways I've never experienced before, bringing me out of months of spiritual drought I'd been experiencing and affirming to me that I'm loved and worthy of His refining fire - even when it hurts.


* He blessed me with a dream come true in the publicaton of my book and has made that entire journey beautiful. I've loved hearing the way others have found His arrival in a new way through its words.


* He has given me great hope that although this was, in many ways, a year the locusts have eaten (with great lip-smacking, I might add), He will repay me in ways I cannot even imagine.


Oh yes. He still gives good gifts to His children.


And YOU are all a gift to me. Thank you for reading along with me this year. Thank you for praying for me. Loving me. Encouraging me. Leaving me comments to let me know you're there. (And Merry Christmas even to you lurkers. You're loved too.)


May He bring great joy to you today as you celebrate His birthday!!


Much Love....


Bekah

21 Years Ago...

My eleven-year-old dreams came true, and my sister had a baby GIRL.

Mom, Dad, and I had just walked in the door after church on Sunday morning when the phone rang (there were no cell phones in those days...at least for the commoners) and my brother-in-law told us they were at the hospital! It was baby day! So we scurried right on over to the hospital (missed lunch and everything!) to meet this cuteness:
(The cuteness in the pink hat, not the red dress.) Yes. I really looked like that.


In honor of Miss Cassie's 21st birthday, I thought I'd share some pictures from her early days. I took pictures of the pictures in my scrapbook, so the quality isn't superb. My apologies. (There are also some VERY comical shots of yours truly if you're in need of a laugh.)


My sleeping beauty.

Isn't she a cutie pie?

Playing at my other sister's apartment.

Evening wear...and a snack. Goodness, Lori, didn't you give her any food? ;) Just KIDDIN!

Concert by Cassie.

This is NOT the one I wanted to post. This is the one that I thought she'd still speak to me after seeing....

This was NOT sideways in the computer album. Why is it sideways on here? Anyway. This was in my room back in the day at my parents' house. She LOVED hanging out in my room. (And why wouldn't she!?!?)

ALSO not sideways in the computer. This was on my parents' porch. See the cat asleep in the swing? She loved our kitties.

This may be the worst picture of ALL of us (not to mention too blurry). Let's just walk through this left to right, okay? I was in a "poof my bangs as high as they would go" stage in an attempt to look like I was from a Janette Oke novel. (I'm not kidding.) The Native American necklace was a touristy souvenir I'd purchased on the visit to see Cassie. The rest of the outfit was just unfortunate. AND I was sick. Cassie was either sick, or tired, or both. Hence the slump. And LORI!! Those JEANS! Love em!!!!

This is not me. This is my OTHER sister, Julie. But she was about my age (okay she would have been a little younger than I am now) when this was taken. We kinda look alike don't we? Don't ask me why I remember this, but this was taken at a family dinner at my aunt's house. Mom took a crock pot of chicken and noodles to that dinner and my job was to keep an eye on it during the ride over. I failed to complete my task, the crock pot spilled, and I ended up wearing hot chicken and noodles on my feet (which were in canvas shoes). Can we say BURN!?!?!!?

Look - sideways again! RRR! Anyway. I love this picture of her. That's Julie again.

Seriously annoying with the sideways thing. Cassie - you started cooking early. :)

Her first steps (well...the steps were her Dad's, but you get the idea) into her home!!

Cassie and Jeff (my brother-in-law...also known as her dad) during a family lunch for a holiday. This is now my house. It looks very different. VERY different.

Look what's sideways again! This is Cassie hanging out in my room again. Please make a note of a forbidden cat inside the house.

This is probably how she's feeling right about now looking at all these pictures!

It's a What Not to Wear special!! (Me, not her. WHO LET ME OUT LOOKING LIKE THAT!?!?!!?) But love that little baby!!

Me and my girl. We were inseparable. (And the hairbrush had apparently not yet been invented.)

I remember this. We were doing an "ice skating" routine and this was our finale.

I miss print dresses. (okay maybe not.)

One of my favorites of her. Mom and I spent the night to take care of Cassie so Lori and Jeff could get away. I took the morning feeding. Yes, you read that right. MORNING.

I won't even say it. About the sideways thing. Won't mention it.

Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's. Which is now my house. And it sits right side up.

Reading with my girl.

Cassie, I am in complete denial that you are TWENTY ONE. It's mathematically impossible. But I know that I love you very much - and I'm SO GLAD you're my girl. You made my dreams come true by being the best niece ever. I miss you. I don't miss poofy bangs. I do miss you.

Hope you have the happiest of all the birthdays.

Hugs!