So this last week: last Monday George and I went with Jon out to Illinois for a pizza party with the children's choir. The rest of the week I don't fully remember except I was trying to get ready to come to California and George was good running around and doing errands with me. We think we fixed the dishwasher- I tried some hacks I found online. We emptied the dishwasher of dishes and ran an empty load with lemonade powder- it cleaned it really well. Then we half filled the dishwasher and ran it with less gel detergent and some more lemonade powder (this is also supposed to help if you find streaks on your dishes after washing them).
Anyways, we had a blow out on the plane and I think you all know the rest, since everyone came home so now for a spiritual thought.
I've been thinking about a few things. First one that's less Christmas-y. I asked Carly about her first kiss and in not so many words, there were no fireworks. It reminded me of Jon. There were no fireworks. I was not wrapped up in the physical aspect of romance when I got my answer. I think it's good that Carly likes him for him and not some physical aspect. It made me realize that I want to record testimony builders for me, including the fact that when we "bridle all our passions we may be filled with love " (not a direct quote from Alma 38:12). The physical aspect of love is good and important but it can mask the other parts that need to be there for a relationship to work. Meaning, if we get wrapped up in the fireworks of a kiss, our judgement will hide the other things. So we may be spiritually compatible, or mentally compatible, but it's sometimes much harder to decipher. I don't know if Andrew is the one for Carly but I think she's on the right path to finding out.
The other thing I'm going to include is my notes for a Christmas advent calendar. If you like my idea, feel free to comment or check back as I make changes from notes to the full idea.
Since we all like gifts but want to remember the Savior, I want a Christmas present advent calendar of sorts that I can use with my family to remember Christy and the gifts he has given. Each will include a small gift that reminds my kids of Christ and what he has given us. I also want to include a sorry story with each- I don't know if I want to do uplifting Christmas stories or stories about Christ but something to help us remember the real meaning of Christmas.
Acts 20:35, " It is more blessed to give than to receive."
1. "the opportunity to assume personal responsibility is a God-given gift without which we cannot realize our full potential as daughters and sons of God. Personal accountability becomes both a right and a duty that we must constantly defend; it has been under assault since before the Creation. We must defend accountability against persons and programs that would (sometimes with the best of intentions) make us dependent. And we must defend it against our own inclinations to avoid the work that is required to cultivate talents, abilities, and Christlike character." ("Free forever, to act for themselves" d Todd christofferson, ensign November 2014)
Idea: some type of goal chart to use for the new year to make goals and be accountable for them
2. He is the gift- Mormon message
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son," to be our friend, our guide and our shepherd. Candy canes
3. Atonement: john 3:16-17, " ¶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." Life savers.
4. Scriptures
5. Holy ghost
6. Eternal life
7. Prophets
8. Family
9. Light. Light of the world. Lights/candles
10. Repentance- NUTS: Nuts are a traditional Christmas food, not only because they ripen in fall, before the dead of winter, and can be kept for months if stored properly, but also because they are symbols of repentance. Saint Anthony of Padua brought out this connection very well. Nuts have three parts to them, Anthony said, the bitter skin which encased the nut on the tree, the leathery hull, and the nut meat. The bitter skin splits on the tree when the nut is ripe and the ripened nut falls to earth. Anthony likened the bitter skin to the bitterness of penance which is always bitter to begin. However, this bitterness will release the sinner to seek forgiveness. The hard shell of the nut represents perseverance, because penance, if sincere, requires this virtue. "With perseverance, a sinner who is sorry can perform the most difficult penance. In the sweet kernel, we rejoice in the hope of forgiveness. . . At the place of change, at the place of penance, the Lord appears."* Only those who are repentant can find the Christ Child and seek the forgiveness offered them by Him.
GINGERBREAD MAN: The gingerbread man does not create himself but rather is created. Gingerbread people remind us of God's creation of Adam in the Garden of Eden, and God's creation of each of us. Spices, reminiscent of those mentioned in the Old Testament, make the gingerbread man the color of earth (Adam was created from the dust of the earth). Like us, gingerbread people are not immortal. They are destined to be eaten and thus to unite with their creators. God does not eat us (rather we consume His Body and Blood in the Eucharist), but our mortal bodies, like that of the gingerbread man's, will not live forever. God created us for eternal union with Him after we die. Gingerbread people remind us to look beyond ourselves to our Creator with whom we will one day be united.
As Christian Christmas symbols, evergreens symbolize perseverance and resiliency to adversity.
