Christmas Time

Christmas, my favorite holiday. I love everything about it! I love to decorate, the lights, the cold & snow, the family gatherings, the nativity scenes, the Christmas plays, the Christmas story, the Christmas movies, the shared memories, the food, the shopping (yes I even had my 1st Black Friday experience this yr. & loved it), I love it all!! But, I stop & think about what makes Christmas, Christmas & what a night that must have been that night in that little Stable. What a miracle was born that night and what a Mighty God we serve today. I'm thankful that God sent his only son Jesus to be born that night & that he so willingly died to save his people.

Christmas, this year, wasn't the typical Christmas for us this year with Robbie being in Iraq. We made it as "normal" as we could though. I hooked up the laptop in the livingroom floor & thanks to technology & Skype, this Christmas, Robbie got to watch the girls wake up & open presents & enjoy the fun via webcam! It was definately not the same, but it was the closest we could come to being together. Hopefully in about 6-7 more weeks the Beaver household will be having Christmas again...tree & all! The girls & I are looking forward to that homecoming & celebration! I'm so thankful to the Lord for keeping Robbie & all our troops safe thus far and even though he couldn't be home for Christmas, I feel like my family has surely been blessed this year.

"I Don't Like Daddy's Master"

These were the words that came out of my 5 yr. old's mouth tonight as she had just asked me for like the 5th time "Is Daddy going to be here for Christmas?" While part of me wanted to just freeze and cry, I couldn't help but just look at her & giggle. Master? Where on earth did she get that? Emma definately has took a fascination with new words since beginning Kindergarten. And, mix that with her daddy's personality and you have pure entertainment 24/7. The girls usually don't say a lot about the deployment, but lately Emma I can tell has been a little frustrated and curious as to why daddy isn't home yet & when she sees a pic of a soldier she automatically asks me if he/she is with daddy. I hope one day they will understand just what her daddy & all the soldiers do for us daily & why he couldn't be home at Christmas. But, tonight the girls and I baked cookies for the girls school Christmas parties tomorrow & they worked on homemade Christmas cards for family. I feel like it is very important that they understand it is the things from the heart that truely matter most, and that even though the gifts are nice at Christmas, that is not what Christmas is about. To me, Christmas is all about love, God's love. I am thankful for God's love and the blessings he has given me & my family this year. I am thankful for his most precious gift of all, his son, Jesus Christ. I am very thankful for my family & friends and for my two precious little girls, who by the way, are not too little anymore, and their innocence. I wish sometimes I could just freeze them. I wonder if given the chance, Emma will ever get to talk to Daddy's master...hehehe

On a lighter note, I'm still trying to figure out all this blog stuff. I don't know that I ever will totally, but I'm having fun in the process!

Here Goes Nothing....

Well, I have decided that I want to attempt to start a blog. I am not the best with words, but I feel like this is something that I want to start trying to do occasionally just as something for me and "my time" so to speak. As most of you already know, I am in the middle of a new journey for 2009. Robbie, was deployed in April of this year and even though I do get to talk to him about every day or every other day, I still feel incomplete. Robbie is my best friend. When I am sad or upset, he can make me smile & forget all my worries in an instant. I can be mad at the world and he can say something to make me laugh & forget it ever happened. Even though we have been apart for basically all but 6 wks. out of the last 16 mons., I feel like our relationship & marriage has grown & grown every day. I know what he is thinking 99% of the time & can read his expressions like a book. He has been my encouragement & my rock through this deployment, when I feel like it should have been me doing the encouraging. I said all that to say this...there have been many changes for Robbie, the girls and myself and our families this past couple of years. But, God has always had a plan for us and even when I doubted myself, he picked me up & showed me the way. I want to ask you all for you prayers for me and the girls & Robbie, that we will continue to try to let his will be done. I know next year will hold many more changes for me & my family and though I think about it often, Robbie & I have talked about this many times and we know that God is in control & he always makes a way. So, for now, I'm done with my rambling and I'll leave you with this, hold on to your seats, it could get bumpy!!