Our Christmas this year was amazing. Emmanuel is definitely at the age where he is putting together the Christmas story and he spend most of the month singing "Happy Birthday, Jesus." It was a precious time. We always start the season by cutting down a Christmas Tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This year, we took some special friends along.
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| Jessica and her daughter, Jamiya. |
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| Emmanuel loves this little girl. |
We enjoyed a service at church on Christmas Eve, and we had a quiet celebration at home with our signature Christmas brunch after opening presents before heading to Sunday monday worship.
Emmanuel's gift was a huge firehouse/police station by KidKraft. It's basically a dollhouse for all of those little boys who love rescue hereos. He was absolutely thrilled and so appreciative. He kept saying, "Thank you so much, mom and dad. Thank you." Reesie got some cars and a pretend play doctor kit.
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| Almost every Sunday the boys play the drums after church. |
We headed over to my grandmother's house after naps and spent some time with the cousins and with my family, and the next day we spent some time with Eli's family in Chattanooga. And then, what we had all been waiting for finally happened...we made our very first family trip to Baltimore.
Eli has been to Baltimore since our move several times...to close on our house and to attend several funerals. I, however, had not been back. One of my closest friends asked me if two and half years had been enough time to heal...was I still wounded...would it be too painful? I honestly didn't know the answer to her question, but I knew that I had grown to love Baltimore. It was the first city where I had my first real, post-college job. I had my first apartment. I finished grad school there. We started my marriage there. We rehabbed and bought our first house there. I had my firstborn son there. There were so many wonderful memories, and I was desperate to share those with my children. Not to mention, there were several young men who are continually on my heart that I was dying to see. I wasn't sure if two and half years was enough time, but I was confident that the joy would outweigh any amount of pain, and I was ready to experience that...
I was able to spend some much-needed time with my former boss, who is the Executive Director of HopeWell Cancer Support. She singlehandedly shaped the way that I now view good, strong, positive leadership. Not only is she one of the most intelligent women I've ever met, she is compassionate and loving AND tough. She is beloved by her staff. The Lord definitely used the staff at HopeWell to comfort me and teach me and grow me in so many ways. I will be forever grateful to have had the opportunity to sit and learn from the best.
Our few days in town was also filled with spending time and talking with former board members of mine from FCA and visiting one of my closest friends, who had a baby on Christmas Eve. Emmanuel and Reese were re-acquainted with their Godbrothers, Ceddy, Mook, and Darnell. We got to reconnect with old friends who had moved back to Baltimore after a stint in the great state of North Carolina. And, we got to hug another one of our favorite young men before he left to enlist in the Army and say goodbye to two special sisters before they moved away from Charm City. We also got to eat at some pretty special local places in Baltimore and eating and sharing good food is always something that brings me joy!
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