Forward Thinking after Christmas

Yesterday was full of Christmas cheer, great food, and the traditional gift giving. It was a nice day spent with my family and our old friend Oliver (just shoot em' in the head Oliver). My nieces and nephew promptly arrived at 9:00 a.m. and began circling the Christmas tree like a pack of hungry wolves. Me and my mom and dad finished up the lunch preparations and headed down to open our gifts. Trevor and I bought our nephew a few obnoxious toys just to drive my brother and sister-in-law nuts, and I put together a nice box of crafting supplies for my nieces to share. They LOVE the decorative scissors. :) We relied on gift certificates for everyone else. Even Oliver received a gift that made him smile from ear to ear. When he left our house his stomach was full and he had a brand new winter vest to wear over his plaid shirt. He looked so handsome.

We attended church services at my parent's church - which was beautiful. There is something so magical about church during the Christmas holidays. The songs, the beautiful decorations, the tears falling as people dwell in the sweet spirit of Christ's birth. Recognizing that one special night, after a supernatural pregnancy and nine months of growing in Mary's womb, Baby Jesus was born into the world his father created. Fully man and fully GOD. Born in a stable to a virgin and a carpenter. There was nothing magnificent about this child's birth, and everything about his birth was magnificent. It changed the course of history and continues to shape our future. It is the greatest and biggest birthday celebration ever.

Trevor surprised me with a very cool iPod attachment. It is a charger/clock radio/am fm radio. It is very cool! He also bought me a iTunes gift card so I can purchase some more tunes. Woo Hoo! My dad, who usually hates trying to pick out gifts, bought me, my mom, and my sister each a hand carved wooden bowl. They are so pretty and he picked them out all by himself (normally we help find the gift). I can't wait to decorate mine and place a candle or two in it. Trevor received some shirts, a good sized gift card to Lowes, and a pack of his favorite cookies.

So now that we're past Christmas, my thoughts are on the New Year. I normally have the same resolution that carries over from one year to the next, and I'd hate to break the tradition of vowing to lose weight, but this year I'm adding something else to my resolution list. This year, in light of the things that have transpired over the past couple of months, I am going to start 2006 with a better and more positive attitude. I'm going to trust in God more fully - even when unexpected (and sometimes unwanted) things occur in our lives. I want to start looking for the possibilities in the negative things that happen rather than dwelling on the uncertainties. I love the idea of a thinner, happier "me" in 2006.

I often tell people that I hope their new year begins better than the last year ended - now I realize that those same problems and scars we receive throughout the year carry over into the new year, the difference is in how we handle them. I plan to handle them with a different attitude and take the road less traveled ... and that (I'm sure) will "make all the difference." :)

May your last week of 2005 be truly wonderful and blessed. I look forward to spending 2006 with all my blog buddies.

Happy New Year!

~HB