Merry Christmas!

I missed our big milestone the other day, sort of.

I had been looking forward to posting for being home from the hospital for a month, which would have occurred on December 21st in the afternoon. Of course, we left early morning to head to the ER with Timmy to get his G-tube taken care of, so I was thrown off a little. At any rate, I will combine posts. 

We are so blessed to have milestones to celebrate. 8 months old tomorrow. 1 month home from the hospital last Wednesday. Each pound of weight put on. (Even each ounce of weight is still a milestone and a blessing.) 

We have been blessed with a very low key, but extravagant Christmas. We are looking forward to spending some time this morning with friends at church, and, if energy levels and strength allows, my parents will join us this afternoon. Aside from egg nog and making some fudge, we won't have all the trimmings (although people have added a few extras to our basic celebration). And we are blessed with children who are happy to be able to go caroling and handing out cookies rather than worry about what might be missing. You would be hard pressed to find a lower key Christmas than we have. But it is an extravagant Christmas. It started several months ago when we started getting cards from my siblings. They started with things like "We figured Timmy needed an early Christmas this year." Up through this week's card which said "In case no one else had told you, we decided that since none of us need anything this year, we would take what we would normally spend on each other and send it to you for Timmy's care." Many have asked if we need anything. Some have even pointedly asked if our finances were OK. And a few have wondered if I was being truthful when I said that we had no financial need. It has been overwhelming to be in the receiving end of such blessings, but between "Christmas" gifts and many other gifts from friends and family, there is no need. Even with some ongoing expenses of medicines and supplies that we are covering, there is a surplus of gifts sitting there waiting to be used.

Thank you cards have mostly been sent out, but I am sure over the last 3 months that some have slipped through the cracks. I did my best at accounting, but other things took a priority.

And to think that those gifts (as grand as they have been), are nothing compared to the gift God gave us at Christmas. I have a little experience with the birth of a child. A compliment paid me a few children ago was "You are no less excited by this child than you were with your first!" Children are a blessing I don't take for granted. As we have been told that our youngest may only have months to live, it has brought emotion with it that has not been easy to deal with, but is nothing compared to what God the Father chose to endure to save me from my sin. He sent his ONLY Son. Not just to be born in a manger and give us the picture of the nativity to celebrate and enjoy, but to die on a cross, separated from each other by my sin, so that He could cleanse my sin away.

This year, I have the blessing of feeling the joy of the sacrificial gifts people have given toward Timmy's care. I also have the 'blessing' of feeling just a minuscule part of what God went through. Timmy's biography has not been written yet. He may outlive us all! But the sorrow we have dealt with in receiving the news from the doctors of how they see things have given us a faint reflection of what the Father sacrificed for us. We are grateful.

Merry Christmas everyone!

I hope between all the presents you receive and open this year, you'll have time to think about the greatest gift anyone has ever given you. And if you haven't 'opened' it yet? Today would be a great day to receive the gift God purchased for you so many years ago. And if you're unsure how - I'd love to help you unwrap that gift!