3 things you're grateful for... made of Glass, Ceramic, etc.
1. Eye glasses (I mean... I guess technically plastic these days??)
2. Windows
3. Windshields... I definitley woudln't want to drive without one. Espeically when the windchill is in the -20s to -30s! Ha!
3 recipes you're grateful for
1. Lentil and rice casserole... very nice "cold weather day" recipie
2. Red Lobster cheddar bay biscuits
3. Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
Funny Stories/Memories You're Grateful For
Oh gosh. There are so many I could list, and I'm just going to list the first three that pop in my head.
1. One Christmas, my uncle got his mom (my grandma) a VCR for Christmas. She was in her 90s, and living with us, her son (the uncle and gift-giver in this story) lived in Georgia, but tried to keep in contact. So he was telling his sister/my mom what to get her. She opens it and says, "What is this?" My mom and I expalin to her what it is, and my mom says, "We can get you tapes from the library, like old movies, or even things like old Billy Graham crusades and you can watch them on the TV in your room." To which my grandma replies, "Well, why would I want to do that?" We were kind of glad her son wasn't there to hear her give her opinion of his gift.
2. Another grandma/Nana story, and one of my last, if not my last interaction(s) with her. I had come home from college for the weekend, and she looks at me and says, "Oh, you've grown!" and I kind of chuckled and said, "No, Nana. I haven't grown for a couple of years now, and I definitely haven't grown in the couple of weeks I've been at college." to which she replies, "Well then, your bust is bigger!" Pretty sure I nearly choked on the carrot I was eating at the time...
(Note: for the purposes of this next story, Brother 2 is my next older brother, the middle child, and brother 1 is my oldest brother. I'm the youngest.)
3. So we have/had a decent sized hill in our backyard, and when it snowed, all the neighborhood kids would come to sled. While it really is a pretty small hill, there were some formidable obstacles at the bottom. Mainly the large tree in our neighbor's yard and their dog, who was just a bit crazy and known to bark himself into seizures. So it was this very careful alignment of the sled to avoid both of them. My brother(s) had just gotten a new sled, one of those "snow mobile" type ones that you could steer. It was my turn to try it out, and brother 2 was going to jump on the back after me, to steer. (Note the word "was" and you'll see exactly where this story is going.) Unbeknown to me, he couldn't jump on. So he's yelling at me from the top.
Brother 2: Steer!
Me (turning my head, not looking ahead): What?
Brother 2: Steer!
Me: What??
Every single kid: STEER!
Me: Wha...
**WHOMP!** Right into the tree.
I was a bit startled, but fine. It was the sled that hit the tree more than me. My brother runs down to check on me. I assure him I'm okay, just a bit startled.
Me: What where you saying??
Brother 2: I couldn't get on the back. We were yelling at you to steer!
Me: Oh.
Brother 1: Could you see stars??
Me (thinking of the tree bark): No. All I could see was brown!
Free-for-all ~ anything you're grateful for that you'd like to share
1. The Urbana 2022 -- I'm leaving to volunteer at this conference on the 26th! It's a "missions conference" for college students, but more than what you might think of when you hear "Mission conference." It's basically Missions 101 crammed into 4 days. Volunteers have to be there a day early and I'm leaving a day before that, just to give myself plenty of time without time pressure. 10,000+ participants, and we ring in the new year singing praises. I love it, and no New Year is ever the same after attending Urbana. That being said, I probably won't be posting much that week, but I'll try to catch up after and give a report if anyone wants one.
2. I'm grateful I get to help lead others in worship from the stage on Christmas morning. One service, so it will be all the church family.
3. This one is going to sound weird, but... Related to the number 1... Dec. 28th is the anniversary of my dad's passing, and it's going to hit me different this year, I think, because it will be the first time I'm at Urbana again, which is where I was when I found out. The Urbana conference is only held every 3 years, but because of COVID, they moved it from 2021 to 2022. So I'm just thankful for his 4 years (almost) in heaven, and that I'll be surrounded by people and great music and speakers for his anniversary this year, and that if I completely loose it, I'll be in a supportive environment. (Not that my house/family isn't supportive!) I don't know if I'm expressing myself well, but.... yeah.
(I know this post was a bit of an emotional roller coaster, so I will not be offended by any reaction you give this post. I'll apply to the appropriate part. Ha!)
to each of you and Merry Christmas!
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the new plans we're making for our next Florida trip
new motivation to have people over for game days
