Twenty-Two

Turns out my family left last night at ten-thirty and drove straight through from Jacksonville. I woke up to the sound of ice cracking all the way up the driveway telling me they were finally here. It was such a beautiful, beautiful sound.

By the time I had put my boots on, covered up my zits with some concealer (gasp, I have zits; what a surprise) and put my contacts in, they had already made attempt number one at getting up the mountain to Grandma's house.

If you've visited me in New Market, you know that the hill up to Grandma's is a pot-hole ridden, 80-degree incline. With the snow and ice, there's no way you're gettin' up there without 4-wheel drive or chains on your tires. Ron let the kids (who aren't really kids anymore - Morgan turns 18 tomorrow and Camron turns 15 next Tuesday) and Aunt Cari out to walk the rest of the way up. They, needless to say, got lucky. Mom, Uncle Ron, Chase and I on the otherhand had to walk the entire way up.

I'm so out of shape.

We didn't stop once we got to Grandma's house though. The kids and I (there I go again) - my COUSINS and I (better) - found an old sled in Granddad's garage and attempted sledding. I had to pull Camron down the first 50 times so we could pack down the snow (it is, afterall 2 feet deep) but once we did that, it was pretty successful. I don't remember the last time I played in the snow, but it was super fun and we were super soaked - none of us having any kind of winter wear on whatsoever.

We then continued the festivites by doing what we do best: eating.

Lunch: Sandwiches, Braunschweiger, Cheese Spread, Pickled Eggs
Snack: Popcorn and Cheese Spread
Post Snack: Fudge
Dinner: Beef Stroganoff, Salad, Crescent Rolls, Broccoli & Cheese
Dessert: Cheesecake
Post Dessert: Peanut-Butter Balls dipped in dark chocolate, and toasted, sugary pecans.

Sometime after dinner, it finally dawned on me that Christmas is Friday. I was just so happy that they were here that the thought of waking up on Friday morning to gifts under the tree somehow escaped my mind entirely. Family is enough.

Jesus is enough.

I also had a moment when I wondered where my husband was. He's out there. I don't know who he is or where he is, but he is. I really wish I could tell him how much I respect him, how much I miss him, how badly I need him and his leadership in my life and how I never want to spend another Christmas without him.

Seeing Ron and Cari, Grandma and Granddad and also watching those Mark Driscoll sermons and hearing him talk about his wife makes me think upon such things. I just find it so hard to believe that someone could ever love me the way these men love their wives; love me the way Christ loved the church. It just seems so impossible. Unfathomable. Unreal. I'm nowhere near worthy of such a love.

Dude, these chick-flicks are doing me in.
No more, I say - no more!


I just can't wait to go to school, to devote my time to the Lord, to build my character. Truth is, my heart wrestles with Him more than it should, and claiming that He is enough is sadly nothing more than a rebel sigh more often than not. If I could ask anything for Christmas, it would be that my heart would know and cry out in honest liberation - Jesus, You are enough...

Goodness, how much I want that...