December 20, 2009

• {Merry Christmas from the Hutch house}

  
  
  
  
  It’s late. The house is quiet. Ben had a friend over today and that’s been fun (and loud-er) having two boys around.

  I’m sitting up waiting on my butter tarts to bake/ cool. I don’t know why I always think those are easy to make – they’re not. :/

  I’m getting all my gift stuff together for friends at church tomorrow… (or is it morning by now.. probably)

  Kate was in the living room till just a bit ago getting her stuff together too… homemade bracelets and brownies for her girlfriends.

  It made me smile to glance in there and see her all hunched over and busy on the floor.. making her little packages just so.

  She’s alot like me. But then, alot not.  (and I’m glad for the “alot not” part)

  I bought Ben some candy canes to pass out to his friends..
  I saw him eating one earlier, which must have been his second because I see two empty spaces in the box now!!
  And before you think he’s an unusual child for liking candy canes – they were jolly rancher flavored! 

  Emma started crying when I told her the m&m candies I had brought home were for her to give her friends~ she was sad one wasn’t for her.
  I tried explaining several times that there might just happen to be one exactly like it in her stocking on Christmas morning…
  but that didn’t seem to console her much.
  I think giving and waiting are two things that are not synonymous with 4 years old…
  I think giving and waiting are two things that are not synonymous with alot of ages, now that I mentioned it.

   

  

  Shayne and I had a huge fight earlier that took us all evening to work out…
  he’s gone to bed now, and things are settled. kissed and made up.
  I smile now to think about it~
  it had something to do with him hurting my feelings by not helping me carry in the groceries when I got home…
  which I think had something to do with exhaustion and hormones…
  and also something to do with the fact that he didn’t even hear me come in, so how was he to know I was lugging in 20 bags of groceries…
  trying to hold my killer huge purse on my pinky finger…
  while fumbling for the door knob…
  all while balancing the gallon of milk on my head!!
  Or so it sure seemed from my exhausted perspective, and.. did I mention hormones!

  Kinda seeing the after thought silliness of it all – and understanding perfectly in moments like this why men don’t get us…
  (though i’m sure all too soon i’ll forget i ever even had that thought cross my mind) *wink*
  I find a sobering melancholy settling over me as I think back…
  that happens to me alot late at night, when the house is quiet and I’m alone~
  thinking back over the day, over the words and actions, and especially attitudes that filled my heart.
  How much really pleased the Lord? and how much… well, how much just didn’t?
  It’s good to take inventory. Even if the outcome is a bit scary from time to time.

  But always, my conclusion seems the same – - -  I’m grateful for grace!
  For the times I blew it ~ and for the times I didn’t.. because the only reason I didn’t was – grace!
  When I see my life with all it’s flaws, and a few areas that have improved -what I think of is, grace!

  

   

  

       
  

  

    
  
  I imagine grace alot like Tinker Bell’s fairy dust… (can you tell I have a little one? Spiritual analogies derived from cartoon characters!
  But without it (grace) we don’t have the power to be the people God intends and wants us to be~

  Shayne and I were talking some along these lines tonight – AFTER we worked things out.
  Saying how that nothing we ever face..
  problems in marriage
  or with our children
  or other relationships..
  no amount of heartache
  or questions
  or pain…
  nothing – - absolutely nothing is beyond being able to be fixed and repaired and restored. {atleast fixed and repaired in our own hearts}

  no matter how hopeless something may seem. no matter how far gone. or how deeply buried -

  there is always a way -
  because HE IS THE WAY!!!

  I love that.

  ~ “I am the Way. The Truth. and the Life.” jn. 14:6

  
    
  

  

  When Christ came to earth He traded in His majesty for the mundane.
  The Creator Extraordinaire became ordinary man.
  And the King of Kings left daily praises for public ridicule…

  He did it all to make a WAY for us~!

  …and the way He paved wasn’t merely from the manger to the cross… it was a way that went straight to the heart of God!

  a way He makes available each and every day.

  What began back THEN on that first Christmas night, continues even NOW..
  God came down and invaded our lives with His presence~
  not only inviting us to come near to Him,
  but making the way for that to be possible.
  Glorious Intruder!

  That Scripture verse pops to my mind where it says, Jesus is seated at the right hand of God the Father, and he’s daily making intercession for us -
  and that’s a thought that makes me smile and cry and jump up and down and fall flat on my face, all at the same time!

  I can only imagine the intercession that went up tonight as He looked down into the Hutch house and made a way as a husband and wife worked out their differences…
  something He’s had to do a hundred times over.
  And I’m sure will have to do hundreds more before it’s all over.

  Yes. there’s that word again – Grace!

  Thank you, Lord Jesus.. for coming to this world to make a way for me!
  For laying down your life so that I could find mine. 
  And I’m not really sure what you think of all the hoopla this time of year~
  in some ways it seems silly to wish you a happy birthday…
  but I will say this – I’m glad you were born!

  

   
  = = :: = = :: = = :: = = :: = =

  
  

               

  Wanted to take this time too, since I’m not planning on being on here much this next week, to wish you all a very happy and memorable Christmastime! ~
  I hope it’s the most special you’ve ever had!

  We’ll probably be spending it with my grandpa, who’s now in a nursing home…
  and also, with some possible foster kids.
  I’m excited about that.
  Grandpa. and the kids.
  And to see my own kiddos comprehending in a fresh, new way this year where the true gifts are at~
  IN PEOPLE.

  
  
  

  And speaking of  which ~
  I’m glad to have each of you who stop in here as a part of my life.. whether you’re a regular or just pass by from time to time.
  I’m a firm believer that nothing happens by chance – everything serves a bigger purpose and has a reason… 
  which I think sheds a much different perspective on the people that cross my path, whether in real life, or simply through a blog.:)

  Thank you for all the ways your life has enriched mine.
  It’s weird at times to consider someone a friend whom you’ve never met – but I do.

  So, Merry Christmas FRIENDS!

  with love~

  amber

   
  christmas 2009

  • 12:59 am
  • 75 Comments