Sheila and Sarah Day 25

Sheila Day 25: Plugged IN

Yesterday when I was in a  total state of comfort and joy, and cuddling in for a nap, I watched The National Lampoons Christmas, at least the first 30 minutes or so until I crashed.  There is a scene when Clark Griswald has spend painstaking hours prepping the house for this one spectacular moment.  The lights are all strung, the house decorated, and the family is standing around awaiting the ooooh and ahhhhhh moment of plugging in the lights.  The stage has been set and everyone is totally excited.  Clark CANNOT wait as the climatic moment has arrived . . . them moment he will plug in the lights and they will brilliantly radiate throughout the entire neighborhood.  AND then it happens . . . nothing, absolutely nothing.  He shakes the extension cords and still nothing . . . everything is plugged in and yet somehow the lights do not come on.

I got to thinking about this idea with regards to Christmas.  Today was a great day!  I started out the morning by going to Grygla with a friend and her family for the kiddos Christmas program and the Cantata.  I loved being in the church sanctuary and seeing the pretty decorations in the cozy church.  There were kiddos dressed as angels with their crooked garland halos and wings, shepherds, wise men, and kings, one even wore an old yellow chenille bedspread that was a real burden for him to drag around.  There were 20+ kiddos playing handbells, from the wee ones to those that were bigger, and with a lot of hard work and some grace, they made BEAUTIFUL music.

The adults got into it too and they also were a part of the program.  They sang favorites, and Pastor Vickie accompanied.  Man is she a gifted pianist!  I could have laid on the floor, closed my eyes, and listened to her play for hours!  The hour was a gift that will carry me through the holiday season.  However, as I looked around I found myself wondering about the others that were sitting in the church pews.  What did their own Christmas story look like this year?  Where they plugged in and able to see the light in their lives?  It was there, mirrored in the eyes of the little kiddos, echoing through the familiar songs and in the Christmas story, but could they see it?  

After church, we headed home to Vikings and girl time.  Several of my friends come over almost every Sunday to watch the disaster we call the Minnesota Vikings!  I am a fan though and I faithfully watch every Sunday hoping that one day things MIGHT change, and every year I remember, there is always next year!  That being said, today we sat around, chatted, laughed, ate tons, and exchanged gifts.  It was a nice way to spend the day before we all go our own directions in the next few days.  I realized that friends, no matter if they are sitting in your living room, call or text occasionally, or have been a part of your life forever, all help one stay plugged in and allow light into our lives.

Tonight, we all decided to run to Warren as I had to deliver gifts for my mom's friend's little people.  On the way, I dropped off Cal's gifts for the kids so he had them too.  We drove around Warren looking at lights and headed to TRF for a Walmart trip and to drop of Bunky's cookies.   He was happy and I told him NOT to eat a dozen like I did!  Then we bopped off to Walmart.   Perusing through the Christmas isles was fun.  Looking at yummy Santa candy was enjoyable.  The line was not atrocious.  We bounced through McDonalds and ate ICE CREAM!  Then scouted around town looking at Christmas lights . . . they were all plugged in!

Finally, we were back to my house nestled in the countryside all lit up inside like a Christmas tree.  The warm glow coming from the house is also coming from my heart and I feel as though I am totally plugged into the light source. You know, we can be like Clark Griswald where the light's of Christmas are surrounding us.  There can be hundreds of thousands of little lights that could bring us Christmas hope, but if we don't try and see them nothing, absolutely nothing will happen.  However, if we plug into the light source, the brilliance of HOPE can be utterly breathtaking.    

Sarah Day 25

Last night I definitely had some technical difficulties with my computer. My Mac died and I realized that I had left my charger at work. So last night I spent three hours trying to get my crappy desktop computer to work so that I could at least send an email to myself of what I blogged about. I figured if I could send it to my email, then I could access blogger on my phone and finish what I needed to do. 

Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy. I was never able to connect to the Internet from my desktop so I had to wait until this morning and try again. I woke up four hours later at 7:00 AM and was finally able to connect long enough to send myself the email. I finally posted my portion of the blog but it had some hiccups in there that I wasn't able to fix on my phone. so I went to my office first thing this morning to get my charger. When I got to my building, I unlocked the door but I quickly noticed that the had doors to the staircase were locked and the elevator was shut down which meant I couldn't get up to seventh floor. Grrr! So right now, I'm writing my post for the day from my phone. I apologize for it probably being short because of that.

After I got back home this morning I decided to stay up and start cleaning the house. Jesse and I will be heading home tomorrow and there is lots to do around here. For the last three weeks, Christmas presents have taken over our entire kitchen table. Normally I wrap them as soon as I purchase them, but this year I haven't had the time. Last night, mom blogged some about wrapping all of her gifts and putting them under the tree and I figured I could probably do that too today since I need to bring them all with tomorrow. So I turned Pandora on and listened to "Christmas hits" while I cleaned the house and wrapped gifts.

Wrapping presents seriously took me three hours! I have never let myself get that behind before on wrapping and it wasn't nearly as enjoyable as it usually is. It felt like such a chore because there was so many to wrap and I waited until the last day. But I still found myself in a cheerful mood as I sang along to the Christmas music and thought about the next few days. 

When I was listening to the Christmas music, there was a song that I have never heard before it was called the "Love is Everything." The lyrics of the song talk about how all we really need is love under the tree and that love is the biggest gift we can give. It says that love is the gift that won't disappear and you can give it to anyone because there's enough for everyone. Another part of a verse says "If you spend a little time, look deep inside and search your heart and I'm sure you'll find that is the best gift you could give this Christmas." 

 The song got me thinking about his true that is. We spend so much time wondering and worrying what we should buy the ones that we love for Christmas, when really, we probably don't need to buy them anything at all. Spending time with those people is so much more meaningful and valuable than any gift would ever be. Love is what Christmas is all about, and there is enough love to go around. We never get tired of love, we never run out of love, and we need love. Love is the perfect gift!