I’m dreaming of a white Christmas this year.

I don’t mean cold weather and white snow on the yard; I mean inside my home.

There is this vision in my head of every thing white trimmed in silver.

TURNING GRAY INTO WHITE

How do you have a white Christmas when everything in your life is just a bit gray?

You know, that color gray that has been so popular in all the decorating magazines has undertones that are vague. My life has become a bit vague; I can’t make plans as easily as I’m accustomed to doing because we have a lot of life circumstances up in the air. I don’t know where everything is going to land; but I’m dreaming of a white Christmas just the same.

A lady I talked to once told me that my life was a lot like pick-up sticks; that I had a lot of family members depending on me to make the right moves for them and I was just going from one place to the next hoping not to make a mistake as I picked up everyone’s pieces and tried to pull everything together for all of them.  That was years ago and sometimes I think nothing has changed a bit.  This week has been like playing pick-up sticks.

Thanksgiving has barely passed us by and I still have that thought from our home’s Tuscan Vineyard theme that you can’t let the little foxes come into your life and ruin the harvest. Joy must prevail in a Christian’s life through all of the Christmas seasons; after all the most important thing has happened and we are to rejoice no matter what.

Emmanuel has come!

 

Christ is dwelling in the hearts of mankind and we have nothing that can rob us of that joy.

All else and all other worldly cares need to pale and fade into the background; just like that gray that is going away from the living room at my house when I do my Christmas decorating this year – it will all be light and white.

I love the pure, pure shades of white in this theme.

It will brighten up where the gray used to be; both in my life and in the rooms of the house.

ANTICIPATING A WHITE CHRISTMAS AND A COLORFUL 2019

Okay; I’ll try to explain the gray; but this will be the last time I mention it.

No more gray for this girl this year and next year is going to be a lot more colorful. I can promise you that; but let me explain instead of talking in riddles.

This year has been a bit turbulent at our house.

The year started out with both our work vehicles refusing to run anymore. We had to spend a lot of what we were saving for retirement on vehicles to drive to work. We even car-pooled to work together in one vehicle for about six months saving up to prevent making car payments. The whole idea is not to have any more monthly bills than necessary when we get to that magical place they call retirement. It keeps inching away from me and I’m beginning to wonder if I will actually do such a thing.

Oh well; we were able to replace those vehicles, so we counted that fact as a blessing. We are enjoying our new rides now, and we know there are third-world countries where people never even dream of owning even one car. If we were not so blessed as to live where we do we could be walking instead of driving.  It occurred to us that  we survived that crisis well, and we gave thanks to God for helping us to tough it out.

This just wasn’t the way I had wanted to start the year.

Still; I was grateful for the resources we had.

Then the heat and air unit in our home went out.

Another chunk of savings jumped out the window.

The flip side is that we will have heat in the winter and cool in the summer.

There are people who live in grass huts who endure the natural environments every day.

We still feel blessed; it just wasn’t our plan at all.

Sometimes God has other plans and in the end they always work out better.

HURRICANES HAPPEN

Next trivial little problem to come along was that our family vacation (which we had planned way ahead and  which we look forward to each year with passion) got cancelled because of a hurricane. Yes; it had been pre-paid and it took a few months to get the refund.

We took time off; but it wasn’t the usual family get-away that we all love so much.

Still we were together and we gave glory to God for that fact.

We still had our gathering; it was just a bit different. I suppose God is teaching me how to surf when the waters get rough. It isn’t an easy art; but I’m trying. The secret seems to be getting back up and going on out there; rough waters or not.

None of those things were too major when you look at the whole picture; but they were only the tip of the iceberg.

WHEN LIFE GETS TO BUSY AND FAST-PACED

There were other little changes added on top of these things.

Everything was happening at once, and life seemed to be a little too fast-paced to suit us.

Several family members had a lot of lifestyle changes this year (not bad ones but just life changes) with one of our daughter’s family moving, two family members changing jobs, one deciding not to work anymore, and little transitions like that all year one after another until it added to a LOT of changes when we looked back. These were mostly good but they changed our schedules and the way we did things. A lot of time and effort were required to accomplish all of these changes out of our regular routines.

WHEN THINGS HAPPEN THAT ARE OUT OF OUR CONTROL

In the middle of the time/energy crunch without a proper vacation and lots of schedule changes; our double-wall convection oven went out.

This was like replacing a used car.

I cook a lot and my oven is actually more important to me than my car.

Please don’t laugh.

Again; more retirement savings out the window but we do love our new ovens.

Now I only wish I had replaced them sooner.

The biggest issue was the four weeks that it took for the new ovens order to arrive and the time it took for my husband to install the new one and remove the old one.

We spent Thanksgiving without a properly working oven. If you ever want to know how to produce a Thanksgiving dinner with only the stove top and a toaster oven – read my article about our Tuscan Thanksgiving. https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/thanksgiving-in-a-vineyard/, https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/recipes-and-ideas-for-thanksgiving-in-a-tuscan-vineyard/.

The miracle was that no one noticed and all enjoyed the day.  It was a very small similarity to the miracle of the light at Hanukkah.  When God wants something to happen it happens; no matter the human circumstances that try to prevent it.

Thanksgiving was wonderful!

TURNING CATASTROPHES INTO LAUGHABLE MEMORIES

The oven melt-down happened right at Thanksgiving and I joked that we wouldn’t know how to celebrate a holiday anymore if we didn’t have an old appliance sitting right outside our front door waiting to be hauled away.

The Thanksgiving before this year we had replaced our washer and dryer just before the holidays. That was simply the time they broke down and we couldn’t schedule it any other way. An old washer and dryer were sitting outside the door as we greeted our Thanksgiving guest that year. I wrapped them up in Christmas paper and tied a huge bow around them. Everyone wanted to know where I got such huge boxes to decorate with.

The appliance thing has become comical.

I can’t think of any more left to break but I don’t want to say that out loud.

The thing that hasn’t been comical is the state of a lot of our loved ones.

IT IS THE PEOPLE THAT REALLY MATTER; NOT THE CIRCUMSTANCES OR THE THINGS

This year we have lost many family members.  We also have some family members that are very sick and knocking at death’s door this very moment.

Our troubles seem like nothing when I think of what they are going through. Some are suffering with pain.  Some are burying their parents and loved ones.  Some are dealing with very hard family circumstances that seem to have no solutions.  Many are suffering financially as well.

It seems a thousand prayers have been going up from our house every day of this season for breaking hearts.

We have found it hard to be saying goodbye to an unusual amount of dear family and friends this year. We have close friends and family also going through divorces and unexpected and painful family transitions.

All we can do is pray that God will guide them and that he will guide us too as we do whatever we can for them; which never seems enough.

Our hearts break for these as we continue going through time with many physical struggles of our own.

WE MUST KEEP LAUGHING FOR LAUGHTER BRINGS JOY AND JOY BRINGS PEACE AND PEACE BRINGS HEALING

At least we can still laugh at the appliances going out!

This year at Christmas we will have the old double-ovens still waiting on the front porch to be hauled off.

I’ll need to see how much Christmas wrap I have left that is waterproof.

If that isn’t the answer this time; maybe we will try to turn those ovens into giant bird feeders or something similar; because a big bird has been nesting and taking shelter between the ovens and the wall of our front porch.

I would hate to disturb this amazing creature of God until spring comes and he can fly on to a warmer, safer spot. Now I don’t feel we CAN remove the old ovens from the front porch even when and if we find the time and the energy.

Oh dear; just ignore the ovens if you come over.

The front door still opens the same as ever.

Our Christmas tree will wink at those ovens through the living room windows at night.  Our wreaths and Christmas characters on the lawn will distract from those ugly used appliances a bit.

Let’s just pretend it isn’t there.

In a thousand years; will those ovens being on the front porch at Christmas really matter?

THE REAL HARD ISSUE

There will be no time to do the hauling away yet because my Mother has had two bad falls caused by an un-curable ear problem.

We are spending all of our free time at the hospital.

The last time she fell she broke her hip and had to have hip-replacement surgery.

We had already asked her to move in with us; but she insisted it wasn’t necessary. I just spent a week of time I didn’t have off from work at the hospital with her; and now I’m about to return to work and will be traveling to the hospital to tend to her needs after my work shifts each day.

Please don’t feel sorry for me though; she is the one who is in all of the pain.

Those people in the hospital rehab would make your gym instructor look like Cinderella’s fairy god mother. They are making her work hard. Good for them; but she stays tired and is in a lot of pain.

It takes about an hour and one-half in the heavy work traffic for me to get to where she will be having rehab. That is one-way.  I’m hoping to bring her home from the hospital to live with us; which makes a lot more changes and shifts in our only-getting-busier life just a few years before retirement.

You can throw in the fact that she is very independent and doesn’t want to live with us. I feel it is the best solution and if she lived in assisted living it would just keep me busier going back and forth and worrying about who is caring for her and why. I hate to see her lose her independence and I’m going to do everything in my power to make her life stay the same; take her to her church, let her friends come over a lot and stay with her and let them take her to her senior center activities and stay with her in her own home as much as possible. I just hope she will stay with us at night and let me know she is being fed and properly cared for and not falling in the floor with no help in sight. I’m praying it works out for everyone. My thoughts have always been that family is better at care-giving than institutions.

Those are NOT my mother’s thoughts though.  She is insisting that she can go back to her home and care for herself without our help.  She is pretty stubborn and she usually gets her way.  It is only a matter of time before I am the bad guy in the picture because I won’t let her have her way and all of her friends are already rallying around her and disagreeing with me.  No one can see that I have the long-run and her best interest in mind with the arrangements I want to make.

With all of this I only have repeat episodes of more hospital stays to look forward to.  Her life and our lives will be totally disrupted by one fall after another and the fact that she wants to surround herself with friends that need help as much as she does.  I am amazed at their spirit and love their desire to stay independent; but I’m also very hurt that my own Mother will not listen to reason from me and treat my home as her home away from home.  I’m finally going to have to accept the fact that she just doesn’t want to be with me or my family and I know who will get to pick up the pieces when her plan falls apart.  It troubles me; but it is out of my control.  I’ve offered my best and all I had to offer and it wasn’t good enough for her.  Now I will get to live with whatever the fallout is from a bad decision on her part and I’m tired of arguing with the whole world about it.

As I’ve prayed I’ve had one set of old song lyrics going through my head “Que será, será, whatever will be, will be.  The future’s not ours to see, Que será, será.”

Such is life in the family of my Mother.  She is a woman that is very loved by everyone she meets.  They all admire her beauty and her poise and they always take her opinion over mine.  I’ve been here many times before.  I’m used to feeling unsupported by anyone but my immediate family members who understand what a struggle this really can be.  The song is right; what will be will be.  I have no choice in the matter.

GOD IS THE ONE IN CONTROL

So; to put it mildly and get back on subject; the usual calm and peace that typically prevails behind the walls of our home has been challenged a bit lately; but we don’t let those little foxes of the vineyards come in and steal our harvests of joy. We have been aware and on alert that something bigger than us is going on, but something bigger than that (our Great God) is still in control.

In case you are wondering where all of this information this is going; I’m not really trying to give you a long list of my personal troubles; what I want to say is that in every situation of life Christmas time should truly give us hope and help us to continue to persevere. It should remind us of how our God made the impossible possible; and that He will give us the strength to get us through all of our troubles and hard times and bring more joy to replace those troubles if we just trust and hold on to His Word and promises.

I believe!

I’m trusting God with everything and moving on.

I was thinking of this and was reminded of the color white.

White stands for how holy and pure the love of God is.

How I long for this love of God to be the focus of our holiday celebrations this year. I began to think “A White Christmas” was truly just what the doctor ordered and I set out to make that happen.

MAKING WHITE INSTEAD OF GRAY

I explained all of the above in order to help you to know why I have become even more determined than ever to have a beautiful, white Christmas this year.

I’m going to be sure it happens.

No matter what.

We will simply be dealing with different circumstances and more people; but that only means more joy from others; right?

This is a sacred time; and nothing is going to steal the joy of the season from our home.

There may be a few bumps and we may be working around a lot; but we will have our white Christmas!

We will celebrate our belief that this was the time of Christ’s conception and that He would have been three months old by that NEXT December.

That little child in the manger scene, whether three months old, or new born; is still the Savior of the Word.

Of course we think by the time of Christmas Mary and Joseph had Jesus in a house. We celebrate that joyful fact.

Where ever they were, or what ever time it was in December; He is still The Light of the World and we will be joining in the Hanukkah celebrations of the season from a Christian perspective.

We know the miracle of the lights was symbolic of Christ as our Messiah.

It is well known that the great star from Heaven played into the coming of Christ.

There is so much about this cold, dark time of the year that brings us hope of light and joy. We serve a God of great reversals. He reversed the curse of sin when Christ came to live among us.

A HOME SHOULD REFLECT THE FEELINGS OF THE HEART

Most of all we celebrate Emmanuel; God with us.

I love for our home to reflect the feelings in our hearts.

This year; like every other year, our home will be as festive as ever; and every time I look at the white tree and the lovely white decorations lined with silver linings; I will think of heaven and the glory of God and the love and hope that He shines into our lives; no matter what, when, how or where we are.

Every problem we face has a silver lining and I’m determined we will see that happen this year.

I know that is the way God works.

I’ve seen it so many times now.

Right now I’m watching all that gray turn to silver and hiding inside all of that silver is something more worthy than gold.

Each silver lining will bring a new story for people who are growing and maturing in God’s love.

I couldn’t ask for more.

I’m excited about this white Christmas and I can’t wait to share it with everyone!

I COULDN’T ASK FOR MORE

So these photos are just a little sneak peek into what I’ve managed to do so far.

I’ve scattered the photos here and there in this blog post and I’ll show you more when the last days of Christmas approach and I’m able to take photos of the people who live and love here. They are the true silver lining and all of the stories they bring into my home make my heart full.

I couldn’t ask for more.

Though I’m making the main part of the house white with silver trim; I’m keeping the traditional things in our den downstairs and I’ll try to show you that as it progresses too in another article I’ve called A Traditional Christmas.

The IN SEASON Lifestyle is also going to share a year we had a Blue Christmas; so be watching the articles in THE HOUSE DOCTOR for a few more Christmas ideas.

My daughter and son-in-law and their four year old daughter are spending the night with us one day next week and I will use that as a perfect opportunity for them to help us get to that part of the decorating in the downstairs living areas.

Just the gathering will be fun!

MORE NEW IDEAS COMING

Keep watching the MONDAY MENUS section of the blog for some food ideas for this season.

I’m hoping to have my Mom home from the hospital in time to join in with our feasting this year. Maybe we can at least get her to share Christmas with us.  I’m planning a menu of recipes to go with the White Christmas Themes. Hopefully; it will post soon; but there will be some traditional recipe sharing in that section of the blog in the meantime. Don’t miss them!

NO TIME TO BE SELFISH

So what is a white Christmas without a white tree?

I chose to keep the decorations all white and silver with no other colors.

When I was finished I tried to take a selfie of me in front of my lovely white tree. Everything was so white that with the camera’s light the tree blended into the white wall and all I could see in the photo was my silly face! That is what I get for being so self-centered. The funny thing is that the pics of the tree without my face showed up just fine.  I’m sure God was reminding me not to be selfish!

Don’t you love it?

I actually have two trees in the main part of the house. Let me tell you about the one in my kitchen. It is probably my most used and most loved tree.

The IN SEASON Family tree lives permanently inside my kitchen window.  It is decorated every month in a different way and this time it is covered with snow flakes. There is one little star I hang at the very top of the tree. I’m arranging our Christmas Card collection on the bar table underneath as soon as they arrive in the mail.  Now that we have the snowflake tree; I feel a little story book for children about snowflakes brewing inside my brain.  Oh for more writing time!  I’ll get that story out of me and into the blog soon.

FINDING JESUS IN THE ROOM

The dining room table holds the little white porcelain nativity scene this year.

Though we know that Mary and Joseph were probably in a house by December and Jesus was probably already three months old; I just want people to see that the focus is on the Christ Child no matter where he was or what age he was in December.

He came and the whole world changed without even realizing what was going on. This can happen in our lives too.

I love the reminder of the stories of the angels and the shepherds and we tell them with the correct times and dates. The little figures help us to remember. Mary and Joseph COULD have had a shelter for the animals outside their house and we love to notice that the animals recognized their creator and honored him, and the people recognized the fact that God was the creator of the animals and He gave them to us to tend and care for.

I try to put the wise men at a distance away from the Child because they too have their story to tell; and we try to tell it to our grandchildren with accurate dates and times and events.

So the focus of our table during our Christmas feast will be The Christ Child.

Did you notice anything amiss?

It seems that Joseph is missing in these photos.  Hmmmm…..I’m going to find him I promise!  He will soon take his proper place.  Just a little reminder of how important it is to have the presence of REAL MEN in our lives and to know that the whole world is a better place when Fathers are heads of their homes and pray and teach their children and grand-children the Word of God.  Joseph will definitely be added to the scene here.

USING THE ADVENT WREATH AS WE WAIT AND HOPE

We also love remembering the time leading up to the birth of Christ with the Advent Wreath. This is the time to  think about what was going on in the heart of Mary as she carried God inside her body.

Can you imagine?

Weekly we consider the nine months of her pregnancy and compare it to the time from December to early Fall when we celebrate the birth of Christ at the Feast of Tabernacles.

This doesn’t mean we can’t have figures in our home to rejoice in his birth!

We rejoice all year in his birth, life, death, burial, resurrection and look to the second coming with joy.

REFLECTIONS OF THE HEART

I love how our home reflects our hearts.

Also; I love how we are able to share no matter the circumstances.

Clearly we see how God works in all things all the time and brings us to the places we need to be in just the times we need to be there. I love how God knows what is best for us whenever we can only see gray. He brings us on to find those silver linings. We will surely see them at Christmas this year.

Thank you for letting The IN SEASON Lifestyle welcome you into our Christmas home and thank you for celebrating the life of Christ with us this year.

We love and cherish all of our readers and we appreciate the community that forms around The IN SEASON Lifestyle more every day.

God Bless You Every One!

HERE IS WISHING YOU AND YOURS A BEAUTIFUL AND BLESSED CHRISTMAS SEASON

Gail Landgraf – Editor/Writer/The IN SEASON Lifestyle

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