Around Our House at Christmas - More Than Decorations

I believe I may have more decorations for Christmas than the average household. Let's just take a little peek.

 I have a village with 91 house pieces, 2 bridges, an ice skating pond, and a plethora of people.

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I have a designer tree with 3 large Rubbermaid containers full of ornaments.

Keith has 35 different nativity sets.

This one was made this year by Katherine

We have our traditional tree.

This tree grew in size the moment we put it in our house!

We have a hall of snowflakes.

Then there are the little singing people on top of the TV cabinet, the snowmen in the hall, the nutcrackers on the stairs, and the poinsettias dotted around the living room.

So, you say? What if I told you that it was all in 2 rooms and a hallway? We are jam packed into our tiny living space! In order to make way for the traditional tree, I had to move my piano into the dining room....which has 2 six foot tables for the village plus the designer tree and a dining room table for 6! Then add 7 people into the mix and you have what I call a wonderful Christmas!

I love Christmas with all the traditions and trimmings. There is no better time of the year, as far as I'm concerned. We go to the Christmas parade, cut out snowflakes, put up decorations, make Christmas cards, go to the theatre, make cookies upon cookies upon cookes, go caroling, and so much more. And now, with Mandi in our midst, we've added a few more traditions, like watching It's a Wonderful Life, playing Take 2 (a very intense Scrabble type game), and Santa cookies.

But, I must say, my very favorite part of Christmas is giving. Giving presents, yes, but so much more. One of the many giving projects we did this year is for a sweet child named Evie. She is warm and funny and generous and....dying. She has end stage kidney failure and desperately needs a kidney. So, with Kimberly's encouragement, we decided to get Evie's Facebook page to 1000 likes by Christmas. Turns out that wasn't so hard. So we upped it to 1225 - you know 12/25 for Christmas. When we made that goal, we decided 2000 by Christmas, though Kimberly really wanted it to be 5000. We thought that was really unattainable. Then, when we stalled at about 1750, a mini miracle happened. Our big country music station picked up on the story and posted it as their facebook status. And guess what? We watched the numbers soar....2000, 2500, 3000, 3500, 4000, 4800 and then it stalled again. But we had caught the vision and just KNEW we could get it to 5000. It didn't happen in time for Christmas morning, but by late afternoon, Evie got her 5000 likes!

So, what did this accomplish? It made a little girl smile. (If you have facebook, go to her page and watch the video of her learning about the 5000 - plus, if you haven't already, like her page!! www.facebook.com/kidneyforevie ) That would be enough, but even more happened. Several people came forward as potential living donors and are beginning the paperwork to be tested. PLUS, Evie's contributions to COTA (Children's Organ Transplant Association) page more than doubled, giving them over 20% of their fundraising goal. (If you'd like to donate to Evie, do so here: http://www.cotaforeview.com). And finally, the joy was so great in helping Evie, that my entire family has joined Evie's volunteer team so we can feel the joy of Christmas throughout the year!

I have to admit that I love the glitter and lights and music of Christmas, but even more importantly, I love the giving. It is the same giving that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is known for. And I bear my testimony that giving as our Lord gives is the most wonderful feeling in the world!