It's the day of recaps.  Tis the season to look back at the last 365 days and remember the moments that defined a year.  So many of you have written about the highlights of 2010 on your blogs.  I have really enjoyed reading about where you have been and where you are going in 2011.

I am spending New Year's Eve at home this year...blogging.  Quite literally.  I am typing with 90 minutes left in the year. 

Cut me some slack people...I'm pregnant.  The fact that I am still awake is a small miracle. 

I wasn't going to write one of these end-of-year posts because I don't think my 2010 can compete with some of the coolness that ya'll experienced.  And...to be honest, I'm kind of glad to see it go.

Don't get me wrong, some pretty cool things happened this year:

It didn't work. 

I still look to The One who  holds me in the palm of His hands.  I still trust Him even when my plans fall apart.

2011 is going to be great!  Our newest arrival will make his/her debut in June!!  I will work on a photography business by starting small. 

But even if 2011 isn't exactly what I plan...I will still look to The One who holds me in the palm of His hands.  And I will still trust Him even when my plans fall apart.

I pray that 2011 brings you joy and peace.  And that your dreams come true.   And even if they don't...I pray that you will still look to Him and trust.

Today, while we are all doing last-minute shopping, baking, crafts with the kids, stressing out over the arduous chore of gift-wrapping...a mom and a dad in the next town over is burying their 28 year-old only child.  A 10-year-old girl will attend her mother's funeral this afternoon.

I knew her.  We worked together when we were pregnant with our girls all those years ago.  She was a single mom like I was for so long.  Even though we weren't super-close, we stayed in touch.  I was floored when I heard the news.

It was a car accident that took her life...on her daughter's birthday.

I get mad when things like this happen because I think that no 10-year-old girl should experience this kind of loss...on her birthday....during the week of Christmas.  I can't help but think about all the "firsts" she is going to experience in her life without having her mother there to help her.

But at the same time, I know that God's ways are better than ours and He gives is stregnth to cope.

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40: 28-31 NIV)

It still doesn't make it easy.

Please pray for this family.

And after you are done praying, please hug your kids and tell them that you love them.

Each day is a gift.  Let's not forget to be thankful.

Hi Friends!

It's been a while since I updated you on the status of the pregnancy and...

...Things are going GREAT!!

I am 14 weeks and my baby bump is slowly turning into a baby mountain.  That thing they say about  showing faster and bigger during your second pregnancy...it's TRUE!  This baby is growing leaps and bounds faster that I thought.  And I am so thankful for that!

Now that I have finally hit the second trimester, I have more energy.  I can actually stay up past 9:00 in the evenings!  Because I work full time, I can't nap during the day so I get all the sleep I can during the night.  I average about 10-11 hours a night.

The nausea is still there but not as bad.  I take the miracle drug, Zofran, everyday and it helps tremendously with the nausea.

I think we will find out the sex in January; I go back to the doctor on January 8th and he MAY do the ultrasound then.  I am HOPING that he will do the ultrasound then.  I have a very strong suspicion that this a boy...very strong.  I am carrying the baby so much lower than I did Kelsey and I feel different.  But it truly doesn't matter...I am just praying for a healthy baby.

I wish I had a picture or something fun to go along with this update.  Maybe the next time I will have a better ultrasound picture or a tummy-shot. 

Thanks for all your prayers!  Please keep praying!!

I am a fan of MercyMe on Facebook and in real life.  I love MercyMe.  Love.

Recently, the lead singer, Bart Millard, updated his Facebook/Twitter status about a Christmas show cancellation.  The status said:


Let's just say that following comments weren't so nice.  People were not worried about the canceled show...they were upset that MercyMe had the audacity to use the term Xmas!

Don't Cross out Christ from Christmas!!
Jesus is the Reason for the Season!!!

I felt bad for Bart.  He lives his life for Christ every day and his usage of the term Xmas is no indication of the "condition" of his heart.

Even my own preacher made a comment about how Xmas removes Christ from Christmas.

Christians, although well-intentioned, appear to be misinformed when they make comments like that.
Now I will be the first to admit that there are probably people who write Xmas simply to avoid writing Christ.  There are people who would rather have a Holiday Party than a Christmas Party.  There are people who find the Nativity Scene offensive. 

There are always those people; there WILL always be those people.  But Bart's not one of them.  And actually, the history of the term Xmas is (brace yourselves) FROM THE CHURCH!!!

I'll give you a minute to catch your breath :-)

Let's rewind about 2000 years when parts of the New Testament were being written and recorded.  From 50 AD  to 100 AD, the scholarly language of the time was Greek and so most of this portion of The Bible was written in Greek.   The earliest Greek symbols for Christ  was cristoV where the first two letters were chi (c or C) and rho (r or R). 

So the symbol for Christ in the Greek became XP and was later shortened to just X.

In the fifteenth century, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press.  Because the words were set by hand, the cost of printing was extremely expensive. The church, in an effort to reduce production costs, used the abbreviations X for Christ and Xmas for Christmas. 

It's similar to 1 and one...they look different but they mean the same thing.  I admit...it would be kind of funny if there were a group of people who protested the use of the word one and other number-words because they thought there was an evil consipiracy to rid the world of numbers.  (Muahahahahah.....)
The truth is, that we have to be careful.  There are bad things in this world...but Xmas isn't really one of them.  Especially now that we know the background.

The Bible says that we are to be "in the world but not of the world," (John 17:9).  If we separate ourselves too much from the world...how can we be in it?  How can we let our light shine if we are so busy making assumptions and fretting over silly abbreviations.  Seriously...aren't there bigger worries in the world?

John 13:35 says, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another," (KJV).

Love.

That's what separates us from the world.  Not Xmas or Christmas.

Fellow-Christians...let's pick and choose our battles carefully.  And let's be sure that we are educated on our battles before we try to fight them...otherwise we come away looking intolerant and close-minded and well...sometimes just plain silly.