"The Christmas Shoes"

They should not be allowed to play this song on the radio it makes me cry like a baby everytime I hear it. Which in turn makes me look like an idiot in front of my not so soft hearted co-workers. Here's the lyrics just try and read the words without it tugging at your heart strings.

"The Christmas Shoes"
By: Newsong

It was amost Christmas time, there I stood in Another Line
Tryin' to buy that last gift or two, not really in the Christmas mood
Standing right in front of me was a little boy waiting anxiously
Pacing 'round like little boys doAnd in his hands he held a pair of shoes
His clothes were worn and old, he was dirty from head to toe
And when it came his time to payI couldn't believe what I heard him say

Chorus:
Sir, I want to buy these shoes for my Mama, please
It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size
Could you hurry, sir, Daddy says there's not much time
You see she's been sick for quite a while
And I know these shoes would make her smile
And I want her to look beautiful if Mama meets Jesus tonight


He counted pennies for what seemed like years
Then the cashier said, "Son, there's not enough here"
He searched his pockets franticallyThen he turned and he looked at me
He said Mama made Christmas good at our house
Though most years she just did without
Tell me Sir, what am I going to do,
Somehow I've got to buy her these Christmas shoes
So I laid the money down,
I just had to help him out
I'll never forget the look on his face when he saidMama's gonna look so great


Sir, I want to buy these shoes for my Mama, please
It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size
Could you hurry, sir, Daddy says there's not much time
You see she's been sick for quite a while
And I know these shoes would make her smile
And I want her to look beautiful if Mama meets Jesus tonight

Bridge:
I knew I'd caught a glimpse of heaven's love
As he thanked me and ran out
I knew that God had sent that little boyTo remind me just what Christmas is all about

(Repeat Chorus)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The Christmas season has slowly but surely snuck up on us yet again. I am praying that 2007 flew by because for 10 months of the year I was planning a wedding. I realized today that tomorrow is the last day of November which means that Christmas season will be in full swing which means a few things for me.

1. Traffic will not be fun at night when I am leaving work

2. I need to get my tree put up

3. It's time to start thinking about our yearly trip to the Lights Festival

4. I have got to figure out what to get my husband

5. I better get going on my Christmas cards

6. Christmas music on the radio at work will be totally acceptable

7. it's time to start thinking about new traditions to start with my husband

8. I have another wedding to prepare for and should probably be ready for at least two of my friends to announce their engagements on or before Christmas

9. My little sister in my sorority is graduating from college and I will miss her terribly

10. last but not least cold weather is coming and going to stay for awhile

All in all I really do love Christmas and every year I swear I will prepare for it in advance and every year it sneaks up on me and I run around like crazy for a few days. But in the end I always end up saying it was worth it. Everybody I know has been posting their Christmas wish lists so I thought I'd post a little of mine. Mind you I'm not an ordinary individual when it comes to Christmas and being a newlywed don't really need any new stuff. So my wish list is sort of abstract, here's my top 5!

1. Health for all my family members including my mom who has a doctor's appt. soon to check up on some lumps that came up on her neck and one of my Christmas wishes is that those lumps are just stress and not her cancer returning.

2. My second Christmas wish is that my family and friends remember that Christmas is truly about love and all types of love, including our love for each other, and the undying love of Christ who came to us in human form during this season.

3. My 3rd Christmas wish is just to form closer bonds with my friends

4. My 4th Christmas wish is for myself to understand everything it takes to be a Godly wife for my new husband and that we have a lifetime of happiness together.

5. My 5th Christmas wish is for my nephews who are being deployed to Iraq return unharmed as quickly as possible and that the entire world be praying for them and all the troops over there.

Hey I told you my list was a little bit different but if truly I could wish for 5 things this is what they would be. Sorry I can't help you with what to wrap up and put under the tree for me because truly there is not a lot that I really need or even want other than things mentioned which are all abstract. If you truly want to touch my heart this christmas send me a Christmas card with a message in it that says you will pray for someone this Christmas and continue praying for them through out the next year.

IT'S NO SECRET ANYMORE

Congratulations Kelli and Derek on your Thanksgiving Engagement!!!!!!

Love you both and I'm so happy for you!!

Hope, cure, persevere

One of my passions in life is being on the Relay for Life Committee for my City. Being on the comittee has been something near and dear to my heart ever since my mom was diagnosed with cancer my senior year of high school. I chose to become involved with Relay for Life as a way to show my mom that I was there for her and choosing to hope and fight with her instead of being upset about her diagnoses. The Relay committee became a sort of support group outlet for me because there were people on the committee who were caregivers like myself who understood the hardship of taking care of a cancer patient. When I wasn't running myself crazy with all my school activities I was taking care of my mom. My relationship with Relay for Life continued into my college years, and even now I am luminaria chair for OKC's relay which is June 27th and 28th 2008. I am about to give a presentation at Relay University in January on luminaria ceremonies and how they touch peoples lives with one of my friends and fellow committee members and I am so excited to be able to talk about something that has touched my heart so much. As one of my fellow relay committee members disclosed to me last night Relay is all about heart seeing those beautiful, smiling, survivors triumphantly taking that first lap and later in the night seeing the beautiful luminaria ceremony and realizing that all those beautiful, smiling, people have faced death eye to eye and come through triumphantly it really is a beautiful picture. I am so excited for Relay especially now that wedding planning is over and Relay can once again take center stage as the big event I am helping plan. Stay tuned for exciting details on what Relay is all about. Who knows maybe through someone reading this they will be excited to attend Relay for Life 2008 One World, One Dream Olympic Relay.

In other news it's church night which means I get to spend time with my Heavenly Father and recharge tonight. I honestly don't know what I would do without Wednesday night church for me it is a way to complete the rest of the week looking for the best in people and living for God.

routines

Goodness I never knew settling into a new place, living with a boy for the first time, and trying to establish routines as a couple could be so mind boggling. Last night my husband spent several hours trying to connect our computer to the internet which we were told by the cable company was on. Well try as we might we were never able to establish a connection. We ended up him trying to work with the computer most of the night and I watched TV by myself. Which means I got nothing done as far as settling in more. We are trying very hard to settle in to a nice little routine but it's not as easy as one might think. However I think eventually we'll get the hang of it. I have a goal to put up Christmas decorations next weekend so I really need to get in gear and get everything put away so our tree can go up. I am excited to decorate for Christmas this year and I actually am looking forward to Christmas. Tonight I'll be all by myself in our little apartment since my husband works late hopefully I will get things accomplished. Also I have got to get my booty in gear on my thank you notes for our wedding gifts see I couldn't write them before we moved because well we didn't open our wedding gifts til we got ready to put them away. So now I have a little less than a month to get them out without breaking the two month rule, oh and then there's Christmas cards to think about. Eak will I ever have just a day or two where I don't have a project to work on?