Christmas Songs

Downstairs right now my husband, dad, sister, and sister's friend Jeff are playing Wii tennis and my grandpa is sitting in his little wheelchair watching, and the house smells like freshly baked chex mix, and it makes me happy.

I thought I would list a few of my favorite words from the some Christmas hymns and songs, because those songs also make me happy. Sometimes it is little bits and phrases, while other times it is the whole verse.

I love thee Lord Jesus, look down from the sky
And stay by my cradle til morning is nigh.

Joy to the world! The Lord is come. Let earth receive her king!

Yea, Lord we greet Thee
Born this happy morning
Jesus, to Thee be all glory given
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.
O come let us adore Him.

O morning stars together proclaim the holy birth.

Angels from the realms of glory, wing your flight o'er all the earth
Ye who sang creation's story now proclaim the Messiah's birth

Jesus, Lord at thy birth

This, this is Christ the King
Whom shepherds watch and angels sing

Fragile finger, sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born.

Little baby
I am a poor boy too
I have no gift to bring
That's fit to give a king
I played my drum for him
I played my best for him
Then he smiled at me

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep,
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep."

The child, the child sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light

Chains shall he break; for the slave is our brother
And in His name, all oppression shall cease

And all the world give back the song which now the angels sing.

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Risen with healing in His wings
Mild he lay His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing!
Glory to the newborn King.

Here's praying your Christmas is filled with the abundant joy found ever only in Christ and his great love.

Home again, home again, jiggidy jig

Tomorrow Ben and I are headed home to St. Louis... yaaaaaaaaay! I am ecstatic about this, as I have not seen my family in many months. The last time I was in St. Louis was in September with Heather, and neither my parents nor Ben's were in town!

Here are a few things I am looking forward to doing...

• Hanging out with Cara & talking about wedding stuff! Maybe while cross-stitching and watching X-Files, who knows?
• Ben gets to see Cody and Rob and they can have guitar talk and possible guitar shopping (this is their favorite thing to do together... seriously, they went guitar shopping the morning of our wedding).
• Seeing my grandpa
• Loving on my sister, who after the holidays is heading to Italy for a semester. Jealous!
• Houses full of doggies... Scruffy is coming home with us to stay at Ben's parents' house in the basement, to sniff noses through the gate at Monk and Zoe. And at my parents' house, along with Elmo and Ernie is my sister's dog Buckwheat. Crazy but delightful!
• Christmas Eve church service
• Christmas morning with my family around the tree
• Christmas day with Ben's family and nephew Logan
• Maybe possibly please oh please seeing some snow... it snowed there last weekend so maybe some has stuck around!
• French fries from Kriegers. Oh sweet sweetness.
• Re-watching LOST season 3.
• Playing Wii with my parents.
• Shopping at mom's scrapbooking store... I've been waiting!
• Eating whatever sort of delectable meat my dad has smoked.
• Giving presents... I love this part! I mean, don't get me wrong - I'm no saint, I love getting presents too. But I really love to pick out specific things for people and watching them open everything!
• Playing a real (albeit slightly out of tune) piano

I can't wait! Just one more day and we'll be on our way through "scenic" Southern Illinois, headed home to our families and friends and celebrating Christmas!

I hope wherever you are and whoever you're with that you are as excited for your Christmas plans as I am!

A Little Shaken Up

I usually like to keep this blog more upbeat, but every once in a while something happens that I just need to talk about... Today while I was driving to work I almost hit a man with my car, and it scared me horribly.

I was driving on a major road, and coming up to a large intersection (Nolensville and Old Hickory, for you Nashvillians). I moved to get into the right turn lane, which was wide open. The other two lanes in my direction were backed up waiting at the red light. I was zipping past them, totally within my boundaries, when from between two of the stopped cars darts a guy hustling across the street. He appeared and was almost instantly in my lane. I slammed on my brakes and screamed as my car screeched to a halt. This man literally had to jump out of my way and was so close my car must have brushed him; one step further and I would without a doubt have hit him, injured him, maybe even killed him.

I was shaking and crying so I pulled over after a few minutes to try and collect myself. I do NOT understand why someone would try to cross 6 lanes of traffic just a few yards from a busy intersection and not use the crosswalk! And he didn't even pause, didn't even look to see if there were cars coming down my lane. Even though if I had hit him I wouldn't have been at fault, realizing that I was so close to potentially seriously injuring or ending someone's life was terrifying. My mind was racing with the thought of what could have happened. What if I had glanced down to dig something out of my purse or change my CD? What is he had been jogging just a little faster? What if I had left my house 30 seconds earlier? What if what if what if...

But how good is our God, to place his hands in our lives, in the daily workings of our existence? To exist beyond and above our linear notions of time and our ideas about chance and fortitude. God is not playing a game of "what if." I believe that despite the seemingly incongruous ideas of His omniscience and our free will, God's plans are without flaw. I almost hit a man with my car today. Maybe I almost hit him so that the car behind me wouldn't actually hit him. Maybe I almost hit him so I'd be shaken up and more careful and deliberate about my driving habits. But I know there is a reason I didn't hit him, and at the same time a reason that I almost did. Thank you God, that today I didn't hit that man. I pray wherever he is that he is okay and that you have impressed upon his heart that it was more than just a chance occurance, just as you have revealed that to me.

On the Black Tights Bandwagon

Okay, I do not frequently jump on any particular fashion trend band-wagon. But when the black tights+black heels bus came by I was like, "Here's my bus pass, let me on." I don't know why I was attracted to this particular trend, except that maybe it is something I can actually wear... (unlike, say, the skinny jean or ankle boot. Shudder.)

Anyway, I became bound and determined to find the perfect pair of black, high-heel, patent leather, not-too-pointy, closed-toe shoes to complete my look. I finally found them at Payless... yay! And I wore the complete ensemble today and let me just say I LOVED it! It is not too often that I really love or even really care about "an outfit." But today was one of those days! I wore this dress from Target...

And black tights, and a shoe very similar to this:

And it was delightful! Of course I peeled it off immediately when I got home, because tights are one of the more uncomfortable things in the world, but still. It was great while it lasted!