Brave Heart, Brave Soul. She who is brave is free.

  “I think as you grow older your Christmas list gets shorter, because the things you want can’t be bought.”  ~Unknown    I’ve always loved the winter season, especially during Christmas time. As a little girl I’d bounce around the house with joy and curiosity watching my mom decorate. Hanging stockings, stringing lights around the tree all while listening to Christmas music fill the house. I’d dance in delight with the smell of cookies coming from the kitchen and the perfectly wrapped gifts piling up under the tree.  I remember waiting eagerly for each and every Christmas special. Everything felt magical. My excitement and enthusiasm built until Christmas day finally arrived.  As children, this time of year is wondrous and many times mesmerizing too. But as we become adults, Christmas can become complicated, burdensome even. It’s not that the magic is gone. We’re simply aware of life’s complexities. We carry stress and anxiety and at times feel more awkwar...

“We cannot selectively numb emotions. When we numb the painful emotions, we also numb the positive emotions.” ~ Brene Brown Let’s be honest, Christmas can be difficult. Gathering with family can be both rewarding and trying. Finding the perfect gift only to find it’s the wrong size or color can be downright frustrating. And if you’re struggling financially, gifts under the tree can feel elusive at best. Throw in different personalities, tastes and opinions and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.  Face it, the holiday season can be complicated if not exhausting and overstimulating.  For most folks it’s the most wonderful, magical time of the year but for others, it can be the toughest. Christmastime is a mixture of comfort and cheer, and heartbreak and hardship. And as much as we want it to be nothing but merry and bright, this time of year can turn gloomy and dark quickly. I suppose it all depends on which side the coin lands on. And without our consent, Sadnes...

May it be a light to you in dark places when all other lights go out. “ ~ J.R.R. Tolkien Forty years ago this month in December of 1977 I was celebrating Christmas with my parents and our very large and very diverse extended military family. My parents were a true light shining in the dark. An example like none other to me. Our home was never quiet or dull for that matter. It was always open and overflowing with folks every night for dinner, bible study and fellowship. In fact, many nights our floors were filled with sleeping GI’s. And this Christmas was no different.The tree was up, our stockings hung and the table was set. Mama was in the kitchen cooking with a small band of eager helpers. My daddy was in the living room with a couple of the young guys putting together a few of my new toys from Santa. And I was out on my brand new roller skates with Cathy. Life was good. I loved our life there. My dad was stationed in Frankfurt, Germany at the time. Our quarters were often ...

"Today's MOMENTS are tomorrow's MEMORIES." ~ Anonymous Do you ever wish you could go back and re-live a moment? Maybe you've pulled out a few old pictures from your childhood or your child's childhood and thought to yourself, "I just want 5 minutes minutes." Christmas time especially evokes those feelings for me. I'd love to go back when the boys were little, and scope them up in to my arms again, kiss their little cheeks and delight in their Christmas morning joy. Honestly how many times do we reflect on Christmas' past longing for those 5 extra minutes? How many times do we "smell a certain, familiar scent and suddenly remember a small part of our childhood?" Often is my bet. Christmas time in our home has always been a warm, homespun, family affair. As a little girl Christmas was magical. Our tree was always glimmering with gold garland, red balls, our German ornaments and our family star high a top. Gifts were beautifully ...

"It's not what's under the tree that matters. It's who's gathered around it." ~ Anonymous So Christmas is almost here. School's out, the malls are full, ugly sweaters are back in style and admit it, you're singing along to the sounds of the season on the radio. Our tables are filling up, our trees are lit and prime real estate under the tree is not only at minimum but almost impossible to find the closer we get to Santa's big day. And with all that fun, also comes the stress and worry.This year our family has taken a new approach to celebrating this season of merriness and shall I be honest, should I dare say it, of anxiety and pressure. So what is our new technique, it's simple, it's a little something called slowing down and actually being merry and bright, not stressed and strained. As Christmas began descending into our household following Thanksgiving I began taking inventory of the little things, and soon I was reassessing ...

"Traditions have a very special way of keeping favorite memories forever in our hearts."  ~  Anonymous It's that special time of the year again. Christmas is almost here. With December 25th getting closer on our advent calendar every day so are all the festivities, parties and of course our family traditions. We all have traditions, ways we celebrate, commemorate and honor our faith, family and the love we share. For us this season brings so much happiness, reflection and hope to be honest. It's not just the decorations or the food, not even the gifts that get us excited or the fancy gatherings that bring warm fuzzies to our hearts. No it's the people, our loved ones, our friends who fill our hearts with such gratefulness. Some years we have more than other years but that has never made or broken our Christmas. This season for us is more about the love, the joy and the memories we share.Wrapped up in all those particular things are our traditions. Some go bac...

Christmas is not just a magical time of year filled full of bright lights, candy canes and gifts we receive under the tree. Christmas is a sacred time of the year. Those who are not spiritual in nature still hold the Spirit of Christmas sacred. Even if you are not one to celebrate the birth of Christ most of us honor the meaning of Christmas, the spirit of this blessed season through the giving of ourselves and of our time. Sacrifice is the main ingredient in this season of holly and mistletoe and though we may not always have much to offer most of us find a way to make what we have go a little farther, to bring joy to others and those we love. Christmas in our home has always been a bit of homemade love, sprinkled with joy and the opening of our home to those in need of hope. As a little girl Christmas was filled with wonder … dancing lights, a sparkling tree, a warm beautiful glowing star with outside lights paving the way for Santa. I have always loved this time of year and...

Have you ever wondered if this were your last Christmas how you would spend it? Would you find hope and beauty in the time you had left? Would you be content in knowing you had loved and been loved? Would the time you were given to hold those you love dear be enough for them to remember you when December knocked on their doors the following year? In my life this is how I see each and every Christmas I share with my family and friends now. You see for me December 2005 was the beginning of an adventure I never saw coming.  Five years ago this very time of year I found a lump in my breast which would alter the rest of my life. I knew nothing of breast cancer or the path I was being navigated toward at the time. I did not know death was bidding for my company or that I was about to dive into a wrestling match with the Grim Reaper. I did not know my children, young and impressionable would have to face a journey of fear and worry alongside me. I had no clue the Grim would...

I wanted to share this video with my blogging family. This is Joshua's choir singing Carol of the Bells. Wishing you a very Merry Belated Christmas!!! Be sure to turn off the music player at the bottom to listen. Christina

December has come and with her the greeting of winter. The snow has fallen; we have lit our candles, decorated our trees and turned on hundreds of tiny lights on our porch while basking in this magical season. We attend parties, we remember those we have lost and gather at the table of content. December always seems to bring us closer to those we love and hold close. It is a time for magic and memories and is the month blessings seem to come to us from all around. Life takes on a new meaning and we feel the love of both family and friends embracing us. We even find the answers to our prayers don't seem so far away even if they aren't the ones we were looking for. If we take the time to look deeper, to look past the pretty paper and the twinkling lights we will see what the season is truly about. You see when it comes to the giving of gifts this Christmas do we not truly find ourselves in the gifts of friendship and love? Christmas is here and even if we are living in the darkes...