Christmas Surprise

Eric and I decided to do something different this year for the children. Instead of the usual routine of the children telling us"this is what I want for Christmas...." and Eric and I getting it for them, we decided to ignore them completely and do what we wanted. :) Well, not exactly.

We did think of what they might want and not ask for. Like a trip. We don't get to vacation much. In fact, we have taken three trips since the children have been born. We took Ty to St. Louis when he was 9 months old. We went on a mission trip with Ty and Tess to Maryland when they were 3 and 5. Our last jaunt was to Florida to stay with my mom a couple of years ago. I'm not complaining. We just don't go very often because it isn't in the budget.

So for this Christmas because of the generosity of some friends, we have the opportunity to visit the beautiful Smoky Mountains. To make it more fun, we decided to keep it a secret until Christmas morning and make their gifts clues to the trip. Each gift had a number on it and the kids opened them all in turn. I made up a little rhyme to accompany each round of presents that should set them on to the prize.

We purchased cold weather gear, games, books and other things to do on the car ride. I'll give you a sample of a few of the clues:

                 For the Pajamas: Something to keep you warm at night, Snuggle up and sleep tight.

                 For Long Underwear: You must wear these thermals underneath, they will help you hold

                                                   your body heat.

                 For games:For trips in the car, long rides....games make us laugh until we have pain in our sides.

                 For their boots: When the snow falls on a crystal morn, boots are sturdy and must

                                             be worn.

I know they aren't much, but the kids thought that they were fun. The final presents were suitcases. The luggage tags said, "Smoky Mountains Bound"The rhyme associated with them was "Suitcases! Travel! On-the-road! Off to the mountains! Here we go!"

It was really fun. I put travel sized toiletries in their stockings. They got into them before they opened their gifts. The children were a bit perplexed but still tried to be polite.Ty said, "Oh. Wow. Thanks Mom. Soap. Hmm. That's great." Tess and Amelia were excited about every gift. Even the travel sized Germ-Ex. Dinah just sat wide-eyed looking back and forth between the laughter and shouts. She quietly chewed on any piece of wrapping paper she could get her hands on.

Our decision was confirmed many times that day. Amelia explained to us about how we would know that we were on a mountain because it would have snow on it. She said, "We will look up momma and say, 'What a beautiful mountain.'" Tess wanted to have the phone immediately so that she could call her friends to tell them the good news.

Ty didn't pick up on the cold weather/warm clothes clues because he guessed that we were going to Disney world about half-way through.  He wasn't disappointed though when they found out we were going to the mountains. It was special when he hugged me and whispered, "This is the best Christmas ever."



I'll make sure to post a picture of that beautiful mountain when we are on it.

Becoming overwhelmed with love and thankfulness,

Anna

Looking Back and Looking Forward

I love Christmas. I like the excitement, surprises, sharing, and time spent with people I love. I like slowing down, being still, and taking time to absorb all the blessings that surround me. This season was made more special because it was little Dinah's first Christmas. Having her here made each celebration, activity, and moment a little more exciting.

The older children enjoyed watching her reaction. Being a mere 7 months, they often read into her expressions and interpreted her thoughts for the rest of us. "Oooo. She likes that, Momma."  She was passed around and guided through the holiday by three experienced siblings.Even if she didn't understand, I relished whispering the first Christmas story into another tiny ear. Her large, baby blues focused on my lips while I sang simple carols that she will learn for herself in coming years.

While all these things, made the season brighter, a few things still remain difficult. I already shared that making the Christmas card picture of the children or our family makes my heart ache a little. Making the picture isn't the only hard part about it. I have to sign, love from the Lancasters and not sign Jack's name. I know it may seem silly to you, but I still think of that every time I write that.

I don't allow myself to dwell on what might have been. I purposely don't think of how big he would be if he were here now, or what toys I would be buying him. But I do want to make a special point of remembering what was and looking forward to what will be.

I think about how much he was loved and expected. He is and always will be part of "the Lancasters". I don't usually do stockings because Santa doesn't come to our house (a whole other blog topic), but this year I put them up.

I was a the Dollar Tree and saw this stocking holder and decided on the spur of the moment that it would be a good thing for us to have it in our home. So I scooped up 7 stockings and holders including this one for our mantle at home. I showed Eric first and he liked the idea. The children like to remember Jack and when I showed them this they were very glad. They told everyone who that stocking and holder was for. They knew that it looks like the train on Jack's gravestone that I showed you in "The Grave".

When I think of him, I think of all the people who are experiencing Christmas without someone they love for the first time. I pray for comfort and peace for those hurting hearts. But this year as I think of and pray for these things, I am able to not only look back, but I can look forward with a happy heart. With that happy heart, I ask God for new things.

God ties the past with the future with that little baby Jesus born a couple thousand years ago. Because of that baby, I can remember my son and know that I will get to see him again one day. Because of Christmas, the birth, life, death and resurrection of the Son of God who came to earth, we have a future. A future more glorious and beautiful that our minds can comprehend.

My prayers are praises for His provision of the Lamb. I thank Him for the salvation I have in Him. I pray for an opportunity to share His love and Gift with others. I pray that those that need Him have receptive hearts and ears to accept that most precious gift.

I have shared this before but it is worth sharing again:

I am a sinner.

I deserve to die for my sin.
I can't do anything by myself to save myself from that death.
God is a loving God.
He doesn't want to see me punished.
But God is a just God.
He must punish sin.
God sent His Son to earth to live a perfect life, die on a cross, rise from
the dead to pay the price for my sin.
By trusting in God and by believing in Jesus Christ alone for
eternal life I was saved from this death.
By faith, I transferred my trust from myself to Jesus Christ.
I will go to heaven when I die and live eternally with Him.

Even though I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior,
it doesn't mean that I don't sin. Sadly, I still do. But because
of my relationship with Him, I can ask forgiveness for that
sin and He forgives and forgets and I try to do better.
But because I am His, I can never be separated from Him.


You too can have this certainty, peace, and strength.
He offers it to all.
You just have to accept His free gift.


If you have already accepted this gift,I am so happy to have
you as a brother or sister in Christ. I hope you share with
someone else today what He means to you.
But if you haven't and you would like to have this gift, please accept it now.
All you have to do is ask for it through prayer to Him.


If you have a new relationship with Him,
He wants you to grow through prayer, reading the Bible,
worshiping Him, fellowship with other believers, and to tell
others what you have learned.

So there is our mantle with our whole family represented. It will be made whole again someday through the precious gift of the Saviour.

The Future Glory- Romans 8:18-25, NLT


18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. 24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)
 
Becoming,
 
Anna

A Virtual Christmas Card

Well, its always something I put off until the last minute. I don't mean to. I look for the right card early. I often purchase beautiful ones in early November. I even address the envelopes a little at a time in the beginning of December. I choose special stamps at the post office just for your card.

The picture over the years has been a little more difficult to get. As one, two, three, four little faces were added, the probability of all of them smiling and looking at the camera has fallen. The smiles tend to fade after and hour and 100 pictures later. 3 years ago, they looked so forlorn we didn't even send out the cards. We were afraid that someone from the Department of Child Services would investigate the unhappiness of the children. For the past few years, my heart hurts a little just to look at them because one of my little faces is missing.

I keep trying year after year for a few reasons.

1. I want to tell ones I love at least once a year that we think of them, care for them, and wish them well.
2. I love showing off my beautiful children.
3. I enjoy receiving the gift our pictures of your families and I hope that the portrait of my family brings
    a smile to your face like it does mine.

This year, I bought cards the first week in December. I thought that I would just make prints and send out a card that I could write in. I wanted to be able to tell the person receiving it how special they are to us. Tess was sick the night of the church Christmas program so we were not able to take our family picture that night like I planned. Oh well, I decided to just dress the children up and take a picture of them. That session went well and we got a beautiful one. Then, I didn't get to load them and order any pictures until last week. I sent them to a local place instead of ordering them online like I usually do because I thought that it would be quicker. I picked up the prints just in time. I would address them that night and send them out the next day. The cards would arrive just before Christmas.

I opened the picture package and pulled out the prints. My heart sank. The pictures were mistakenly cropped. Ty and Dinah were in the middle, so they were safe. But poor Tess and Amelia were only half there.

"O.K., I GIVE UP!" I declared in a moment of defeat.

The moment passed and my hope was renewed when I thought I would send you a virtual Christmas card! (For those that don't have e-mail, I am sorry. I will try to get something out for the new year.) This way, I can attach several photos.

We do love you. We do think of you. We do wish you a Christmas full of joy. We hope that those that are hurting will be comforted. We pray provision for those with need. May your hearts be filled with the Spirit.

Merry Christmas.

Eric, Anna, Ty, Tess, Amelia, and Dinah Lancaster


"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
Mark 10:45

Becoming overcome with wonder, humility, and thankfulness,

Anna

Just another way to share the news...

I thought this was neat. Just another way to share the story....



Merry Christmas!
 
Becoming more in love with Him every day,
 
Anna

New Perspective

It was 8 am and it had already been a hard day. My fat pants were tight. I was late. The kids had fussed all morning. I didn't have time for breakfast. I was disgusted about eating it anyway because of the pants thing. I spilled my coffee. It was raining. The van wouldn't start. My back-up vehicle needed air in one tire and was low on gas. Dinah was crying as I left her to go to work. I began to tear up. What else could go wrong? Poor me.


Then listening to the radio, I hear a chorus of voices raised in song. A group of women singing Christmas carols. They weren't just ordinary women. They were prisoners from an Illinois correctional facility. Well, I didn't stop crying but the tears flowed for a different reason. My morning didn't seem so pitiful anymore.

My thoughts took a different direction. I am so wealthy, I get fat from all the food I eat. I have 4 beautiful children in my life. I get to drink warm, delicious coffee every morning. I have other clothes to change into when I spill something. I have a coat and umbrella to wear when it rains. I get to get up and go to work every day. I am not trapped in a room with only permission to move about when I am told. I can go anywhere I want. I not only have a car but I have a back-up vehicle when that one needs repair. I can afford to get a new battery for the repair. My baby girl gets to stay with her granddaddy who loves her while I work. I get to see my family again in 8 short hours.

Those women, who had made wrong choices, were locked up in a prison and still were singing. They were singing of the One who makes them free while I was acting like a prisoner. As I swallowed my dose of perspective, I thanked God for all the blessings in my life. I thanked Him for sending His son, as a baby, to live and die so that we all could have freedom in Him. I prayed for those women, saying a prayer of gratitude for their choice to look to Him. I prayed that He would ease the pain that they might be experiencing this Christmas season. I praised Him for allowing, second, third, and fourth chances, not just in their lives but in my own.

If you would like to download this album for free, look below. Hover over the picture and click to listen to some of the songs.