Merry Christmas from the Ireland household! Our Christmas was pretty different this year as Greg had to work and I’m recovery from the car accident. We enjoyed celebrating for several days. It snowed on Christmas Eve, which the kids took full advantage of playing in the snow! Grandpa & Grandma Ireland joined us for some Chinese checkers and took us to Christmas Eve service. I was very thankful for the ride, as I was restricted from not driving per doctors orders. Plus seeing all the cars in the ditch from the slippery roads, was not helping my emotional state as well as the kids. Thankful we made it to church and back safely! On Christmas day the kids strung popcorn to put outside for the birds. Fun to see them get into that activity.
Rahab tells Grandpa as we are playing “Grandpa, You’re awesome!” Best line of the night!
Greg came home on the 26th, so we enjoyed our Christmas dinner. Which was ribeye, mashed potatoes, veggies, asparagus, and rolls. Quite a dinner! We enjoyed finishing up our advent jesse tree with Greg. Then enjoyed opening gifts with each other! It was a great Christmas evening. We enjoyed our gifts from santa the next morning! Santa knew not to come until the morning of the 27th. We got spoiled! We are all excited to try out the aqua mat this summer!
I have friends that pray about a word for each of their family members as they enter into a new year. I feel like these words chose Greg and I this year.
Greg’s is strength. He is juggling a lot this next year. Finishing up seminary, working full time, per diem business, and taking care of his family/household as I heal from the accident. My prayer for him is strength. That he will know how strong he is and how much of his strength comes from the Lord!
Mine is blessed. I will need to be constantly reminded of how blessed I am this year as I heal. It will be easy to see all the things I can’t do for my family that I normally would be able to do. The physical healing, will take time, the doctors are saying 6 months to a year. Recognizing the good days and remembering the bad days will come and go, but I am blessed. Being reminded of how blessed I am will keep my focus on the Lord and not my healing process. My prayer is to remember my blessings everyday!
-Chris