Prayers answered...

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been really intentional about trying to keep Christmas simple this year and have been asking God to give us, as a family, a new perspective on what he wants us to learn through this Christmas season...and I think those prayers have been answered...

Last week there was a tragic auto accident not far from our home which killed a 23 year old woman from our church.  She was a mom of a 2 year old and was 8 months pregnant (she had also previously lost a child through miscarriage).  She and her husband had just been married in August.  This family has only been attending our church for about 4 weeks...but we held the funeral yesterday and I saw over 100 Daybreakers respond to reach out to this family through helping out at the visitation and funeral, providing gifts, cards, casseroles of food and desserts for the funeral reception and simply showing God's love and care to a family we hadn't even really met yet.  I was so proud of our church family for the way that they, without hesitation, set their own busy Christmas to-do lists aside this week and made a difference in the lives of a family who needed us during this tragic time.
It reminded me, once again, the importance of remembering the true meaning of Christmas.  Yes, I talk to the girls often about Christmas being a time that we celebrate Jesus' birthday and try to help them understand what a gift Jesus is to us...I emphasize the importance of giving instead of receiving...I talk to them about family and that Christmas is a special time of year to make wonderful memories together.  At times, I have wondered how much of all of that they actually take in...and yet, today, I quickly realized that "they get it."
The girls and I began our day wrapping up a few more presents and then decided to make some cookies to take to our neighbors.  As we were in the kitchen baking, Alexia commented that we should take some cookies to "Carter", the little boy who just lost his mom in the accident.  She then said, "I know he is sad that his mommy is in heaven, but maybe we could take him some cookies and milk to help him feel better."  It was one of those moments that you feel as though you couldn't be more proud of your kids.  Later, I was asking the girls what they hoped they were getting for Christmas and Alexia said, "I hope I get something I can give to Carter."  Megan responded, "Yea, yea...that's a great idea Alexia."  Neither of the girls have ever met this little boy, but their giving and compassionate spirit brought tears to my eyes! 
So, like I said at the beginning of this post...I have been praying for some perspective this Christmas season...and I think we found it :)

Here are a few pictures of us making cookies for our neighbors (and for Carter)...



Of course, the best part of baking is being able to "lick the spoon" or the "paddle attachment" in this case!