Uncommon Grace

23 December

Today this sweet, sweet baby is six months old. Six months! And his handsome papa is celebrating his own birthday. 

We are almost ready for Christmas. I have completed most of my ambitious list of handmade gifts. A few things were scratched from the list and that's fine. I got the things for our extended family finished, which had a hard deadline. My own children will receive one less gift apiece on Christmas morning but I think my list was too ambitious, and there's always Three Kings Day for those final things. 

I'm feeling considerably more relaxed today, having finished what I really needed to last night, which gives me today and tomorrow to just relax and enjoy the time with my family, reading our favorite (as well as new to us) Christmas books and baking some more cookies for Santa. I promise, once everything has been gifted, to post photos of everything here. I'm pretty amazed by how much I actually accomplished!

I wish you all the merriest of Christmases, full of peace and joy and full hearts. 

18 December

I am posting here from the midst of gift-making chaos. We have no money this year. I mean, we always say that, especially the last few years at my husband's last crummy job, but this year, in the midst of unemployment, we really have nothing to spend on gifts. I do, however, have a lot of supplies. So I'm making as much as I can squeeze in. With a newborn. So, chaos and exhaustion doesn't really begin to describe it. I'm really longing for some time to just sit and read (either on my own or to my children), listen to Christmas music, and not look at another scrap of fabric, yarn, paper, wax, or any other supplies. Just a week to go. I'll get there. 

It feels ironic to write the above, because while handmade gifts are definitely part of what I'd consider our family's "values", time spent together is even more important. I hate the consumerism and "grab it all" of this time of year, with frantic shopping and piles of gifts that will be forgotten or broken long before the next Christmas. Every year, we give fewer gifts to our children and I like it that way. So, I hate that here I am making gifts but feeling that same pressure. It's a balance that I just haven't struck yet.

But what I am longing for is a quiet, holy Advent spent in prayer and quiet togetherness with my family. I hope someday to get there. 

I've grabbed these few photos here and there the last couple of weeks. Thank goodness for that camera, however infrequently I've been picking it up. It reminds me to look for the good in the midst of frenzy.

22 November

Ahh, those quiet few days were just what I needed this week. It felt like a very good thing, in the midst of a life that doesn't give me a whole lot of quiet on its own. We seem to have something (usually good) going on every day, but it's so good to step back sometimes from whatever is possible.

(I can rarely take notes at my class because of the baby, so my husband suggested I photograph the whiteboard with my phone -- such a good suggestion! This is an exciting one because it announces the date of our graduation after four years. So exciting.)

Tonight felt like a good night to pop my head back in, though, on this feast day of St. Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians. My husband and I have been going to a couples' bible study this fall, and tonight the topic was tithing. It was a good conversation but gave us even more fruitful discussion on the drive home. Whatever our woes, it is a very good thing to know that he and I are on the same page financially. We have never had a lot of money, but it has never been our priority. We have prioritized other things, that have allowed us to serve others -- whether in our community or under our own roof. And despite our financial struggles lately, we have continued to give to the best of our ability to our church and to a few charitable causes. It's just so important to us. And we have found that whatever we give, we receive in greater measure. Such a testament to trust.

It has been cold and snowy the last few days. As much as October is my favorite month, I love November, too. And all the winter months. It might be weird, but I actually don't mind a gray day in the least. Yesterday I was downtown by myself for a few hours. It was so refreshing to walk down the city sidewalk with icy air in my lungs and snow falling. That was real grace, and I'm so grateful for it.

We are busy preparing for Thanksgiving. I don't know if I've mentioned it here or not, but we are hosting Thanksgiving this year, for 17 people in my husband's family. I'm very excited because I love to host things, but rarely have the chance since all of our extended family lives nearby.

Wishing you all refreshment and rest in the ways you need it most. 

xo,
Grace

14 November

2 November

Once upon a time...

...it was the most stunning autumn I can remember.