Different Kind of Christmas

If you've been following along, you know that I have a horrible mono-like virus that has pretty much side-lined me this month. Christmas has been very different, as you can imagine. I tried my best not to be a holiday party-pooper, but it wound up not being me that made the celebration different.

On Wednesday before Christmas Eve, Zach, who is never sick, got sick. And I don't mean the sniffles. Interesting things were coming out of him. We prayed he would wake up Christmas Eve all better, but that was not the case. We knew for sure he would not be able to go to MawMaw's for Christmas Eve with the Stewart cousins, but we hoped he would make a recovery before Christmas Eve service.

Zach's Christmas Eve consisted of lost of movies and TLC.

Our family always lights the Christ candle on the Advent wreath, which is a special and scary time for our family. Special in that it's an honor to do it. Scary in that we never know what two boys are going to do. We hated to miss out on such an important service for our church, but it turned out that we had to. Gram subbed for us to help get Evan down the aisle while Stewart lit the candle. I am told Evan was pretty much the star of Christmas Eve service (Okay, so no one said that out loud. They were thinking it, I'm sure.) and tried to take the candle lighter away from Daddy so he could light the candle. And why wouldn't he be the star looking like this?

Once Stewart and Evan returned from church, we went ahead with our Christmas Eve ritual of reading from Luke 2 and then putting cookies out for Santa. Zach was still not doing great, but he humored us and got through it. We prayed that night that he would wake up a new man the next morning. And he did. At 5:45 a.m. We had a joyous Christmas morning and Christmas Day at Gram's despite the 80 degree weather. The boys both had a ball and seemed to enjoy every single gift. We ate a lot and laughed a lot. I did not feel the greatest that day, but I was able to mainly sit and rest, which made it okay.

That evening after the merriment was winding down, a huge spring (It was 80 degrees - definitely not winter) thunderstorm blew in and Gram lost power at her house. Thank goodness all eating was over! We left during a break in the storm - only to get caught in another wave of it on the way home. We made it home safely, thankful that God had given us another blessed Christmas.

We spent Saturday with my parents and had another great Christmas celebration. It was a great time for everyone! I got a little tired, but again was able to rest as much as I needed. We shot Zach's brand new Red Rider BB gun, and I tapped into my inner Annie Oakley.

Sunday morning I woke up feeling really good. I had hopes that I would survive church and be able to nap Sunday afternoon. Then I got Evan out of bed. He was smiling and happy, as always. I thought we were home free until he coughed. And I knew we were in trouble. He coughed several more times, and I started his emergency meds. Croup can escalate in him quickly, so I knew I must act fast. Needless to say, no church for us. I arranged a ride for Zach, and after he left, Evan and I were playing in his room. Without warning, Evan had a seizure and fell down. As I picked him up, blood was gushing out of his mouth. I took him in the bathroom and tried to find the source, but there was just too much. Finally I saw a gash on his tongue. He has bitten his tongue before, so I knew the tongue would bleed a lot but would heal itself quickly. After many tears on both of our parts, I finally got both of us cleaned up and we both took a nap. Stress. Too much stress! I am happy to say that Evan went to the doctor today for the croup and the tongue, and both things are on the mend.

Stewart and I were talking yesterday morning about our schedule for the week and discussing when we would take down Christmas. It has to be done before Sunday, since Stewart will return to his normal work schedule then. I found myself trying to put it off. I want to hang on to Christmas as long as possible. I think because I have been sick I want to make up for the time I've lost. A friend of mine posted this statement on Facebook: "Enjoy what is. Stop complaining about what isn't." I want to enjoy what this Christmas is. I want to enjoy the boys at this age because they will never be this age again. I want to soak up my husband because he has been a pilar of strength for me who hasn't complained about me being sick one bit. I want to figure out what it is the Lord wants me to learn through this valley so I can come out on the other side who He wants me to be. I need to stop griping about my virus and start being still and listening for God's voice. So Christmas, stay a little longer. This family needs more of Your light right now.