Sometimes I Write

We spent the morning packing up the tree, lights, decorations and all of the stockings. Everything is neatly stored until next year. I know a lot of people leave decorations up until after New Year’s Day, but Pete’s birthday is Friday and I want him to have a celebration all of his own. I can’t believe he’s going to be 3 years old. Time really does fly. I’m about to leave to pick Angi up at the airport. Everything is beginning to melt around here…just in time for the snow we’re supposed to get on Thursday. 😉 I hope we don’t get too much- we’re supposed to go to Benny’s parent’s house for a few days.

I finished reading ERAGON lastnight. Wow! It was awesome and I’m eager to get the second book , THE ELDEST. My friend’s kids that have seen the ERAGON movie have been disappointed with it. They read the book first and the movie didn’t live up to their expectations. I’ll probably see the movie anyway, but I’m already setting myself up to be disappointed. How sad is that? I’m telling you people…the book is always better. The ONLY exception I can think of right now is The Polar Express…that movie rocked, and in my opinion, was better than the book. Can you think of another book that’s been made into a movie, where the movie was better than the book? Bring it on…I’m listening.

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We have finally dug out from under all the snow we’ve gotten this week! No doubt you’ve heard about the Denver blizzard of ’06! We got about 28″ at our house and were truly snowed in for two days. Thankfully, I had grocery shopped as the snow began to pile up and I made it home safely. Benny had to shovel out the driveway so I could park. I haven’t seen a snowfall like this in several years. I grew up in WI, so a lot of snow is nothing new to me. My kids loved playing in it, and we even have video footage of Max jumping off our roof. Yeah, I’m a fun mom – I was the one recording it. This has been a great opportunity to connect with our neighbors as we all helped each other dig out our walkways and driveways. We didn’t have anywhere to go really, everything was shut down and the roads were horrible. The airport is still struggling to get the runways clear. They have five open as of this afternoon. DIA is huge, and so is the job of clearing the snow away. They couldn’t clear it out faster than it fell from the sky. The worst part of this blizzard was the delay in Angi’s arrival. She was supposed to fly in from IN on Thursday, but due to the blizzard she won’t be arriving until Tuesday afternoon – after Christmas. We’re sad she’s missing out on the Nowell festivities, but look forward to ringing in the new year with her.

I have received several Christmas letters this year from many people I love, but there is one that I enjoyed so much that I had to share a bit of it with you. I’m on Lisa Whelchel’s mailing list, and she touched my heart with her Christmas letter this year. She talked about feeling inadequate after reading about some of the stellar tidbits of activities in other families and child prodigies in training. She shared about her weight gain this year and how her latest book fell short of it’s projected sales goal, how her family struggled through some tough things this year, and how through it all she needs Jesus. I laughed and got teared up reading her words and related in so many ways. Here is the last part of her letter…

“Now, don’t you feel better? Merry Christmas! In my opinion, this letter more accurately reflects the spirit of Christmas. No, stay with me here a minute, I’m serious. Why did Jesus come to earth in the first place? Because we desperately need a Savior! We are fat, yet so empty. We owe a debt we cannot pay. We are not good enough in our own strength. He came to heal the brokenhearted. He calls us friend. He came to set free those of us who are bound because of the mess we’ve made of our lives.

We aren’t the first ones to celebrate Christmas as primarily the birth of the King of kings, conveniently skipping the whole “Suffering Servant” role of the promised Messiah. Yes, Jesus will reign and rule forever, but the “good news of great joy” that the angel declared to the shepherds on the very first Christmas was that a Savior was born. I need that Messiah this year!

How about you? Have you, like me, been tempted to believe that we will be better witnesses for Jesus in our Christmas letters if we are living victoriously, reigning over our circumstances, and ruling with authority, as befits a child of the King? If that is where you have lived this year, then praise God, you have enjoyed an early taste of heaven.

If, on the other hand, you have lost or failed or died or cried or experienced any other symptom of humanity, then celebrate Christmas with me this year. The birth of the baby Jesus, God in human form. Our High Priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses. The King who wore a crown of thorns. We have eternity to reign with the King of kings. Today I need a Savior. That is the reason He was born. This is why we can celebrate no matter what kind of year we’ve had.”
– Lisa Whelchel

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I’ve been reading about Santa on a few other blogs. The debate continues so I might as well contribute my two cents worth. Like my friend Jared, I wasn’t allowed the pleasure of living in the fantasy world where a jolly man in red came down my chimney to leave me presents for being a good girl. My mom had been devastated when she learned that her parents had lied to her about Santa all those years and she decided to project her fears on me and my brothers. (I forgive you Mom.);) She has always told us that there was no Santa, so I was confused and a little dumbfounded the Christmas we were all at my grandma’s house and my mom and Uncle had a fight because I made his daughter cry when I told her there was no Santa Claus and that our parents bought all the presents. I thought everyone knew – I just didn’t know any better. My mom’s lesson was a good one – always tell the truth – but a little sad to me as an adult when I watched the magical wonder in the face of a child we loved as he opened his gifts. I vowed then to let me kids believe – even for a little while.

Fast forward to married with children. Benny and I had to decide what we would tell our kids. We wanted to mix our upbringings a bit and form our own traditions. We decided we would open gifts from each other on Christmas Eve, and Santa would come after we were all asleep and leave a single, unwrapped gift for each child under the tree. You see, Santa has no need to wrap gifts because he and his helpers took special care in getting something very special for each child and it would only be under the tree a short time. On Christmas morning we would wake up to see what Santa had brought and spend the day being thankful for what we receive, especially the ultimate gift of Jesus.

Backing up a bit, I was also raised to NOT celebrate Jesus at Christmas time. Chalk that up to some very legalistic teaching from the church I grew up in. Their stance was that it was wrong to celebrate Jesus’ birth on a day that we couldn’t be sure was the actual day he was born. They also believed it wasn’t his birth that we should celebrate, but his death and resurrection. (Common sense would dictate that you can’t die if you’re never born, duh!) It was a very confusing message to me growing up – we should celebrate Jesus every day but the one the world celebrates Him on. what??? Talk about taking Christ out of CHRISTmas!

I also have a friend who thinks that talking about Santa at Christmas will make kids think that since Santa is a myth and we talk about Jesus at Christmas, maybe he’s a myth too. Again, I say what??? The thought never occurred to me. I don’t think there is any comparison between Santa and Jesus, and the distinction is real to my kids as well. I guess I could see that happening if you only talk about Jesus at Christmas time, but Jesus lives at our house year round – so it’s not an issue. LOTS of my friends who are parents struggle with what to tell their kids. I get that. So what do we do? Sing carols about snowmen that come to life and sleds pulled by flying reindeer, or carols about the best news that came to earth. It’s the difference between fantasy and reality – and I believe both are o.k. when you can differentiate between the two. (I’m also a Harry Potter, LOTR, Narnia fan too – for the same reasons…I know the difference between the two and can enjoy both.)

Max is seven years old. Last week we had the Santa talk. He brought it up. Our conversation went something like this: (Me in Blue)

Mommy, is Santa Claus real?
What do you think?
(smiling) If I tell you what I think, do you promise to tell me the truth?
Yes.
I think he is.
O.K. then.
Well?? Are you going to tell me the truth?
Max, I always try to tell you the truth.
What would you say if I told you that Popa and I are Santa?
You mean you guys buy all our presents?
(I nodded yes) How do you feel about that? Are you o.k. with that?
Yeah, I guess so.
Max, we let you kids believe in Santa because it’s fun to think about magical things and the possibility of a man loving children so much that he wants to bring them toys and give them good things. That’s why Popa and I play Santa every year – we want to give you good things. But you know that’s not WHY we celebrate Christmas, right?
(rolling his eyes at me) YES! I know, it’s because Jesus was born, right?
Right. Don’t tell your brother and sister about us being Santa, o.k.? They’ll be old enough to talk about this soon enough. Let’s let them believe a little longer, o.k.? Did you know there really was a man named Nicholas who brought toys to children a very long time ago? We could look up some information about him if you want to.
Yeah. Who eats the milk and cookies we leave for Santa?
Your Popa does.
Can I stay up late on Christmas Eve and help you guys? I could be Jr. Santa and eating the cookies could be my job…can we do chocolate chip this year?
Hey! Are you guys the Easter Bunny too?
Yep…and the Tooth Fairy.
Then where are all my teeth?

And the conversation went on and on…;) That’s the way things roll around here. We’re doing some new things for Christmas this year as well. We have a kit called, “What does Jesus want for Christmas?” It’s a little nativity set and has activities you can do with your kids. It’s pretty cool. We also decided to practice Advent this year and join the many others who spend time looking forward to the coming of Christ. Each parent has to decide what they want to do and not cave so easily to what others think, celebrate, or shun.

So, yes Max – there is a Santa Claus…me. Hey, I have the name for it. My first name is Nikalas (pronounced Nick-uh-lus) and my last name is Nowell (which is pronounced Now-ull, like Powell with an N) BUT, it was pronounced as Noel in old English – and in many of the old hymnals, as in “The First Nowell (Noel)” Seriously, I can’t make this stuff up…look it up.

Let me add one more thing. My kids got to BE Santa today. We delivered Christmas gifts to children who are part of the Angel Tree program.

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I have all these posts floating around in my head that can’t seem to make it to my fingertips. I’ve been working on a single post for over a week now and it has turned into this monstrous soap box on the failings of the…oh never mind. I’m not ready for the screaming and eye rolling that would happen if I posted it…and there is YOUR reaction to think about as well. 😉 So, back to the old stand by of what’s happening at the Nowell Hacienda.

We spent last week staying up late watching movies, sleeping in only to find all three children happily lounging in front of the TV, and contacting our support team to find out whether or not they intend to continue their support. Up until now I haven’t had much to do with the money end of our ministry. That’s Benny’s area. So as we’ve been updating our donor lists and preparing to raise the additional support for the next year, we’ve been talking about who might like to join our team, and being thankful for those already on it. I was hurt (I’m not sure if that’s the emotion called for in this situation) to learn that a few of our friends had stopped sending their monthly pledges months ago, before their year long commitment was up. WHY? I wasn’t so much upset that I didn’t know, I was upset that these were people I had counted on and they had offered no explanation why they discontinued their support. Thankfully, God provided through other people. Sadly, there have been times I too have failed to follow through on my good intentions or commitments, so I can’t be too hard on them. It reminds me of something a friend once said about marriage. It’s not about commitment but about a covenant – commitments are too easily broken – but a covenant is MUCH harder to break. Good point huh? But it has nothing to do with what I’m talking about here.

I am grateful for EVERYONE that has given to our family so we could do the work God called us to do. I like Jared’s idea of “owning a missionary” – really being involved with our family by knowing our needs, praying for us, and giving financially to make what we do possible if not just ALOT easier. There are a lot of strange (and false) ideas out there about mission work – especially state-side missions. Some of the things we’ve heard and read are:

1. Missionaries should take a vow of poverty. They should not need or want a desirable salary because God wants us to suffer a bit for His cause. They should be grateful for what they get and not complain. Number of children and necessary expenses for them are of no real consequence. Besides, wasn’t Paul a tentmaker?

2. Missionaries are people who go to third world countries. If you serve in a missionary role in the U.S. you’re not really a “true missionary”.

3. Missionaries families are a second priority, the first is the Mission itself. The family should be expected to take a back seat and just be thankful for the “leftover hours” when the “important work” is done. And that work is never done…

Please tell me you read that list and thought to yourself, “Who are these crazy people who think such nonsense?” It is stuff like this that gave “PK’s” a reputation in the first place. That’s Preacher’s Kids. I can also add Youth Minister’s kids to that as well…and missionary kids. My friend Paula was telling me about a book she read that was written by missionary kids. It chronicled their journey through life as a child in a missionary family and I think it included stuff like my list above. I’ll ask her for the title and list it in the next post. For now I’ll leave you with these thoughts and a few questions. Do you agree with any of the above statements. If so, can you explain why?

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I got news this morning that my friend Debbie’s son Nick was killed in Iraq yesterday. He was 23 and leaves behind a young wife. My grief for her is so raw. I never met Nick, but I am thankful for the bravery he showed everyday while fighting to protect my freedoms and help people who needed him. Debbie’s family is in shock and I am at a loss as to how I can help. She has a husband who is not a believer, and two pre-teen children. Please keep them in your prayers along with Nick’s wife as they grieve this tremendous loss.

My friend Rebecca sent me a link to a website that I now pass along to you. It’s a FREE service that sends printed Thank You postcards to our troops serving overseas. It only takes a minute, so please contribute to this much needed boost of love for those like Nick who lay their lives on the line to protect our freedom.

www.letssaythanks.com

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