Merry Christmas

Alyssa and I waiting to play Ping Pong


Austin and I before I beat him :)






Going into this Christmas break, everything seemed to be going wrong. Two weeks ago I started having sharp back pains, leaving me unable to bend down or sleep on my back. I found out that I have scoliosis with four curves in my spine...this is not normal. I had a few adjustments done at the chiropractor that took away the pain for the time being. One week ago, my brother, Austin, was in a serious car accident when his Jeep hit a patch of ice and rolled over into a ditch on the highway. He is alright and is just having to suffer through some muscle pain, but he definitely scared my family. All of this happening right as I'm getting ready to leave started to worry me. I let fear take over my thoughts and didn't understand why things like this were happening right before I left.

God is so good though. My back is feeling better, and my brother is pretty much back to normal. He does have chest pain when he laughs, so naturally us siblings try and make him laugh and then watch him try not to. It's quite entertaining! This past week has been amazing, and I feel lucky to have the family I do. Seriously. I cannot describe how much fun I have being with them. This week we paired up and each took a night to cook dinner. This is a new tradition with us, and I'm thankful my night is over! Today was a wonderful day spent playing in a two hour ping pong tournament, playing games, and eating lots of good food. I have always said that the 4th of July is my favorite holiday, and although I really do love it, this Christmas is giving it a run for its money.

Last night at the Christmas Eve service, I was again reminded of what a great season this is to remember God's gift to us, His son. All of the classic Christmas carols sing about this truth. My dad talked this morning about the history of the song "The 12 Days of Christmas" and what it really means. It's not just a song about random gifts some guy gave a girl, instead it is full of parallels to the Bible. The line "My true love gave to me" is referring to God, and all the gifts given are ways for us to remember what He has given us. For example, the partridge in a pear tree represents Jesus. Check it out here.

My heart is full. New memories fill my head. I am blessed.