Is it Thanksgiving or black Friday?

I've never been a fan of the black Friday.  I don't like the crowds.  I don't like the pushing and shoving and waiting in line.  That being said, I've become a fan of the Thanksgiving midnight madness.  Don't get me wrong, I don't want to participate, I want to gawk.  I have had the pleasure of strolling through the mall or outlet mall parking area looking at the people in line around the block to get into a store to save an extra 10% on an item that probably won't be appreciated and will most likely will end up costing 25% more because of the finance charges of the credit card company.  It's a spectacle that amuses me and saddens me, simultaneously.  This Thanksgiving evening, most likely, I will go and watch.  I will think about the dinner I ate this day while I walk and fool myself into thinking I'm exercising.  I will see the people in their pajamas, participating in a promotional gimmick.  I will see children awake and up way past an acceptable bedtime and observe them being trained in overspending and developing an entitlement mentality.  There will be thousands upon thousands of people participating in the madness.

My desire is to forgo the madness.  I don't want to be sucked into the whirlwind of the holiday frenzy.  I remember a day 21 years ago.  I lived in Monterey, CA.  It was during the Gulf War.  I felt so blessed.  My husband was in PG school and not stationed on a ship in the Gulf.  He was home with me and we were celebrating Christmas as a family.  We were sponsoring an Israeli  family.  The dad was in the Israeli Air Force and the mom was a stay at home mom, like me.  They had a little girl, I had a little boy.  One day we walked into town to walk the children and have time out of the house.  There were Christmas decorations all around and Christmas music playing.  The mom asked me a pointed question.  It was her first time in the U.S and she asked me, "Isn't Christmas a religious holiday?"  I looked around.  I couldn't see any evidence of a religious aspect to this holiday.  Here I was, an American Christian talking to a Israeli Jew and I couldn't explain the lack of religious identifiers anywhere around me.  And, this was 21 years ago.  And, this was in a country at war.  My Israeli friend was worried about SCUD missiles being rocketed into her country.  The fear of her friends and family being attacked with poison gas.  It made me a little sick to think I lived in a country where so many people weren't even thinking about the war and weren't thinking about the significance of the holiday they were celebrating.

We are now 10 years past 9/11.  We have been attacked on our soil.  Our country is at war, again.  I believe we are even further into the abyss and even more intentional in our ignoring of the religious significance of the holiday we celebrate.  I'm afraid we, who believe, may be becoming quieter and quieter about our beliefs.  We don't want to upset anyone.  We want to be tolerant.  We want to blame the government and the banks for our greed and impatience.  We want what we want when we want it.  I want to stop this madness, at least I want to stop it in my house.

What do I want for Christmas?  I want my house back together.  I want a closer relationship with my husband and son.  I want a closer walk with my Lord.  I wonder if these things can be wrapped and set under the tree?  I'm going to try.  I think my next Christmas project will be to send Christmas cards to wounded soldiers.

If you would like to reach out to a wounded hero this Holiday Season, here is a great options that will ensure your card makes it to a wounded warrior who needs to know someone cares.  (IMPORTANT NOTE:  Please avoid sending anything with glitter--it tends to get everywhere, of course, even in wounds and bandages.):
Send your cards to Soldiers' Angels.  They will be included in Holiday gifts for wounded warriors and hand-delivered at major military medical centers and VA facilities across the country:

You only have a few days left for this Christmas.

Soldiers' Angels

Cards for the Wounded

4408 N. PanAm Exprwy

San Antonio, TX 78218

Christmas child shoe boxes = happiness

I went shopping and gathered the booty for the Christmas child shoe boxes.  This is the project I wrote about in my post about doing Christmas differently this year.  It was so much fun.  I can't believe how much it helped get me in the Christmas spirit.  I'm going to take a pic of each of us (husband, son and me) and add an envelope with our pics and a short note wishing Christmas joy and hope for the child opening the box.  I was able to go shopping with a co-worker on my lunch break.  It was wonderful to share the true meaning of Christmas with someone I usually don't talk about stuff like that with.  I can feel the Holy Spirit softening my heart.  It was fun and encouraging, to both of us.  I'm working on my Thanksgiving thankfulness list, next.  I need to write it down this year.  I think the season has been kicked off to a good start.  Oh, and I hope the church ladies have extra shoe boxes, 'cause I didn't have any at my house.

Gifts for three shoe boxes

Booty = kick ball, lego car, lifesavers, boxers, socks, uno card game, crayons, markers, composition book, pencils and sharpener, toothpaste, toothbrush, and dental floss.  (yeah, I don't know if a 5-9 year old boy wants floss, but, really, taking care of your gums is so important for good health in general.  :))

I want to do Christmas different this year

Today I woke up and thought to myself, "I don't want to put up a Christmas tree this year."  I'm struggling with the "holiday spirit" thing.  I know I need to recognize Christmas.  My family expects a certain amount of Christmas around our house.  Maybe I'm just tired from all the house repairs and work to organize and re-organize the house a tree came into it from hurricane Irene.  Maybe I'm just broke because the economy is in the toilet and I've spent all my extra cash on everything the insurance wouldn't pay for.  Like all the trees that DIDN'T hit my house, but are laying in my back yard and front yard.  Maybe it's because I've found a Bible study group I like and I'm making an effort to do things the way I think Jesus would like them done.  You can see, my list of excuses run from completely selfish to altruistic.

I heard about the Shoebox Project being done by Samaritan's Purse.  (click the link)  I think this looks like a good way to get me into the Christmas spirit.  I have to have my box done by November 20th for it to get to my child by Christmas.  You may have more time, but I don't know where you are when you are reading this.  Check the link, it has drop-off places and times.  I want to thank God for waking me up this morning with such a Ebenezer Scrooge-like attitude, bah hum-bug Christmas.  I also would like to thank him for reminding me it is much better to give than to receive.  I'm going to do three shoeboxes.  One from each member of my family.  I won't force the others to join me in the making, but I'll ask them if they'd like to participate.  Maybe they need help getting in the Christmas spirit, too.  I watched this YouTube video on making the boxes.

Just thinking about participating in this project is warming my heart.  Maybe I will put up a Christmas tree this year.  And, maybe some lights on the outside of the house would look festive.  I may have to draw the line at cookie baking.  Baking, *sigh*, that is a lot of work...

I've read all the blog complaining about Christmas coming too early and too much commercialism.  But, click on the links and watch the video.  I'm going to share the love of Christ by giving to a child on Christmas this year.  This is the first way I'm going to do Christmas differently this year.  Check back with me and see what other ways I find to put Jesus back in my Christmas.  Feel free to share any of your Christmas ideas with me.  I'd love to hear how your family traditions keep Jesus in Christmas.

Linked with Emily at Imperfect Prose

There is no reality

Only perception.

This is truth.  Right now I find myself struggling in the quicksand of perception.  I've written here of my son.  My problem, I believe, is my perception of my son's capabilities.  The last diagnosis he received, before he became an adult, was executive function disorder.  As far as I can understand, this is a severe type of ADD.  When he became an adult, he decided to quit taking any medication.  I'm not sure he was ever on a med that truly helped him, but nonetheless, he quit taking all meds.  Currently, I'm struggling with a couple issues. 

First, will my son ever be able to live independently?  I struggle with whether or not this is a problem.  If my son had been born with down's syndrome or any other debilitating condition, my husband and I would have prepared to have our son with us until we died.  If this were the case, my husband and I would be THRILLED with the level he currently functions at.  But, because my son has the capacity to drive, to work, to learn, has a high school diploma, but has no initiative or follow-through, does this mean we should require less of him.  It's such a struggle for me.  There are times when I think, "just kick him out and let the chips fall where they may."  And there are times when I think, "I can't do that to him.  I have to help him."  I don't know the right thing to do.  I've been trying to teach him to save money, to budget, to plan ahead.  It seems these concepts are out of his reach. 

Secondly, my son is an adult.  He needs to make his own medical decisions.  I'm trying to encourage him to see a psychiatrist and re-evaluate his condition.  Maybe there are meds that would help him.  Currently he is covered under my health insurance, but this will only last for six more months.  I don't know what to do.  I'm struggling.  I'd love to be able to take it under my control and "fix" him, but I can't.
 
It's all perception.  What is the reality of my son's situation?  How hard should I push?  How much should I let go?  How much should I help?  These are the questions robbing me of sleep at night.  This is my unanswered prayer to God.

 Help me Dr. Phil

15 Adult Truths

I found these in my Google+ stream.  They made me laugh so hard, I had to share.

1. Sometimes I'll look at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. Was learning cursive really necessary?

6. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

7. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

8. Bad decisions make good stories.

9. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day..

10. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call. 

11. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

12. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

13. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

14. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.

15. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.

by Tim Jones                                                                     Thanks Google+