Merry Christmas everyone! Hope your day is full of memory making moments, laughter, good food, friends and family, and of course, remembering and honoring the reason for the season. We're not having our normal Christmas...too much snow and ice. I know...everyone dreams of having a white Christmas...and yet, for us, we're really tired of snow...and yes, we are having a white Christmas. We currently have about 20" of snow, the highest recorded snowfall for Oregon on Christmas EVER...and it's still snowing. The resulting fall out is closed roads, traction devices required on all roads, and lots of canceled events...no Christmas Eve services, no restaurants open, grocery stores out of fresh food, no family get-together for us. Because of the snow and ice, deliveries of Christmas gifts (by UPS, FedEx and USPS) in Oregon and Washington have been delayed.
This weather has really brought home to me how thankful I am for the basics of life...how often do we stop and just express gratitude for having a warm home, food in the freezer and pantry, electricity (over 60,000 Oregonians are without power right now and have been for days)...the things that we take for granted. I've missed 4 days of work due to the weather but thanks to the marvel of electronics, I've been blessed to work at home. My husband, the UPS driver, hasn't been so lucky. Imagine pulling a handcart loaded with boxes through packed snow and ice for 12 hours...I know there are a lot of people disappointed and angry that their Christmas packages didn't get delivered...but I hope you'll extend grace and understanding to all those guys who have continued to work in extreme circumstances, to get as much delivered as possible.
Russell, Shanna and I opened our gifts last night...Shanna was anxious, as only a 16 year old who is hoping for money, can be...and Russell desperately needed to sleep in...he slept 12 hours last night. We had a lovely Christmas and watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, one of Shanna's favorite movies that she received in her stocking. It's interesting that our time-honored traditions can be put aside out of necessity, and yet, I find a peace and serenity in just being at home...weather like this forces us to slow down. The frantic last minute shopping (fortunately I finished my shopping weeks ago) didn't happen...neither did tons of cooking for the family dinner. No church service...just us...as a family. God has blessed us so much...Russell and I both have good jobs with great benefits, a home, a beautiful, funny daughter who proudly proclaims the name of Jesus...and we have love...thank you Jesus for this day to celebrate your birth. Thank you for the miracles and blessings that you pour on us each day. May your day and the new year be blessed with the love of Jesus.
hope you had a wonderful christmas! Fun to see some of the pictures of home- I'm also from Oregon...looks like I'm missing all the snow this year!
Posted by: Sarah | December 26, 2008 at 04:09 PM