Christmas Eve Tradition

About seven years ago, we were introduced to the work of a talented new LDS artist, Joseph Brickey. Our friends, Peter and Ann, knew his family well and told us to check out his paintings. Shortly afterwards I came across this book, When Jesus was Born in Bethlehem that is a collection of his paintings that accompany the Scriptural Christmas story. I loved the detail and emotion in the paintings, and bought several copies of it to give as gifts- and one for us too. We read it that year on Christmas Eve as a family, and it brings such a peaceful spirit that we have read it every year since. Merry Christmas!

Too Good To Keep To Myself

I am having a rough day. Rob and I are once again in the low part of the firm cycle, and he is always working. I have been doing a little grieving of my own, which is why I was particularly moved by Tammy’s entry on her blog. Her loss is complete, and I’m sure she would give anything to even just sleep in the same bed at night with her husband, or be able to call and ask him a quick question on the phone. I’ll do my best to appreciate my blessings.

Christmas Pixies

As we enter December and the Christmas season, let us remember the true meaning for this holiday. That has become sort of a trite little phrase that is easy to say, but not always easy to implement amidst the hussle and bussle of life. I am trying especially hard this year to make this a memorable Christmas, and not because of the magical gifts that were received. I took step one by committing to a three gift Christmas. Rob and I will give each of the children and ourselves: Something to read, something to wear, and something to do. We’ll let Santa take care of the toy. 🙂

I have such happy memories from my childhood when we would leave gifts for a family on their doorstep, ring the doorbell and run. It is one of my fondest memories of the spirit of Christmas and was so much fun for my family. I still vividly remember laughing quietly with my Dad as we hid behind a parked car when the kids came running out their front door to try and catch us. We called it “Pixies.” It was done ward-wide then and we would all meet at the ward Christmas party to discover who our “Pixie” family was. I decided to organize this on a smaller level with some of the families in our ward. I sent out an email message, and there was a great response. There will be 19 families participating and I am so excited! I have several ideas already, but can’t share them here because I happen to know that many of them read this blog (even if they don’t comment 😉 ).

If you’d like to start up Pixies in your area, here’s the information:

Pixie 2007

1. You fill out my questionnaire and send it back to me by November 30th. Then I will put all families in a hat and draw names to assign each family to another family (from those who gave me a questionnaire) to pixie. I will send you the information for your family to pixie by December 4th.

2. You will be the pixies to this family for two weeks (December 7 – 21). You can leave homemade goodies, crafts, decorations, notes, flowers… anything fun and festive.

These are the rules:
*You must leave at least 2 pixie surprises each week. More if you like… You can either doorbell ditch or wait until you’ve made a safe getaway and call with a pixie message (although with caller ID this is a bit tricky), or even mail a package etc.
*There is a $20.00 spending limit (total for all gifts). Please don’t go over, it will just make the family feel awkward if the gifts are too expensive. Homemade is best and the more creative the better!
*The goal isn’t really to catch your pixies, so the family inside the home must count to ten before answering the door.

3. On your very last pixie you can either choose to remain anonymous or reveal your identity!

—As a side note, if you’re feeling ambitious, you can also do a pixie on your own for someone who would not be participating, but could use some special attention this season!

Pixie Questionnaire

Participating Family Name:
Parents or Head of Household:
Children (name, age, and gender):
Pets (name and type of animal):
Any allergies:
Days you are planning to be away or on vacation:
Your address and phone number (and gate code if required):

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I hope this will help build the joy in giving and serving, and don’t forget to read the scripture story of Christ’s birth:

Luke, Chapter Two
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

A Letter From My Dad

When I set up WhiteBinder a year and a half ago, I had a couple of items in mind that I wanted to make absolutely sure got posted there. One of those items I finally posted this weekend. It’s a letter from my dad that he wrote to me when I was on my mission. Posting this letter was really important to me because of the experiences my dad writes about in the letter and because I knew that this was one of the few things in my collection of articles, spiritual thoughts, etc. that really couldn’t be found anywhere else.

Hopefully, you’ll see why it took me so long to get the story posted. I had to edit my dad’s letter to remove the personal parts that weren’t relevant to the story and I had to transcribe a number of follow up letters between my dad and others that he sent me which continue the story he starts in the letter.

My dad wrote me the letter when he was an officer in the Air Force and stationed on Guam as the Chief of Safety for the Air Force’s Pacific region. There had been an accident involving an Air Force plane in New Delhi, India and my dad led a team investigating the accident. My dad’s story starts after their investigation is over and they’re given a tour of the Taj Mahal and other sites in the city of Agra. I don’t want to say any more because I really want you to go and read the letter yourself and come back and tell me what you think.

I’m very proud of my dad. He’s the most compassionate person I know. As a lot of you know, after he retired from the Air Force, he went back to school and earned a Masters and a Doctorate in Audiology. Right now, my dad is spending his Thanksgiving in the same place he’s spent it for the last several years. He’s in Ghana as part of a humanitarian aid group he organized shortly after he became an Audiologist. He’s there with other medical professionals and volunteers (26 this year, a record) operating a free clinic and distributing free medical supplies.

I am grateful for the example my dad has always been of love and sacrifice. He loves everyone he meets, and everyone he meets loves him. I hope by sharing his letter to me, other people will have a chance to “meet” my dad and feel that love, too.

Making a Commitment

This year will be a different one for us on Christmas day. Rob and I have decided to give each of our children just three gifts. This will be symbolic of the gifts brought to baby Jesus by the three wisemen. At this time of year I usually spend a lot of time shopping and preparing for the big holiday. I hope that by simplifying the gifts, I will have more time and energy for building faith and participating in service with my children. It’s so easy to get through the Christmas holiday and realize too late that there were very few opportunities to really celebrate the true meaning of the day. I was hesitant to do it because I worried that the kids would be disappointed on Christmas morning. Especially since this year we will not have any visitors and there will be a lot of the day left to fill with less gift opening to fill it up. I have mentioned it to Hunter and Emma, and they seem surprisingly happy with the idea. I did hear Hunter say to Emma, “They can be better if we have less of them.” Rob and I had decided to do this last week, and then today I went to a meeting at church that really convinced me that this is a good decision for us.

In my enrichment meeting I was reminded of the counsel given by Sister Julie Beck, our Relief Society General President: “We must stand strong and immovable in faith, strong and immovable in family, and strong and immovable in relief… as you focus on essentials (you) will be given the courage to forego the frivolous.” I’m looking forward to a holiday season with a focus on faith, family, and service (relief)!

Always Remember

Always Remember Me by Justin Kunz

You may remember my post about my cousin Tammy and her husband Bryce. Unfortunately, just 100 days after his diagnosis with cancer, Bryce passed away on October 25th at the age of 33. I have read through her posts the last few days and cried, and prayed that she and her baby girl will be comforted and taken care of. They seem to have a great support group and Tammy has a vibrant spirit that is just amazing.

Because of Bryce’s passing and the fires that have devastated much of our region, I was comforted when sitting in the Saturday night session of Stake Conference listening to our church leaders. We were lucky to get a visit from our newest apostle, Quentin L. Cook, who also spent time in San Diego yesterday. He told us how he gathered the LDS families together that had lost their homes (somewhere around 45 families) and talked with them. He shared this quote with them and with us:

“No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God . . . and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven. . . .” (Orson F. Whitney)

This quote was used in a talk given by Spencer W. Kimball back in 1955 called Tragedy or Destiny. (I’m hoping to get Rob to add it to WhiteBinder, but for now I’m using the source I found it from.) The whole talk is wonderful and provides comforting and straightforward words for those who suffer tragedy and ask the questions “why me, or, why now?” I am so grateful for my belief that there is a greater plan and that we will all be reunited after we die. There are so many trials in this life, each person having their own unique experience. I hope that I will learn the lessons I need to from watching, and mourning, and sympathizing with those around me. I trust that the Lord is watching over us all and that His plan is best.

The above painting was done by my good friend’s husband who is a fantastic artist. I hope you will look at his site, JustinKunz.com to get a good look at his talent. This painting reminded me of Tammy and little Dani, so I hope he doesn’t mind me using it.