All I Have Ever Wanted

I absolutely love Christmas! I love the lights, the wrapping paper, the feeling you get from giving, the family gatherings, the excitement of children and of course the "real" reason for Christmas - Jesus! I was about 10 weeks pregnant last year during Christmas. For those that are unfamiliar with the beginnings of my pregnancies, they can be rough. I had severe morning sickness with Carter and didn't get any medicine for it until well after Christmas. Needless to say, last year was not a very good Christmas for us. I have been getting excited for Christmas this year for months. However, with the economy the way it is right now, Craig found out that his hours were going to be cut in January. That has really put a damper on things because we are trying to prepare for the significant pay cut to come. I was trying to finish up the decorating of "my" tree yesterday while Carter was asleep and OG and Craig were still in Andrews. As I was decorating, I was thinking and praying. I love, love, love buying and sitting out Santa on Christmas Eve. I also love, love, love to buy clothes for my children. As I was stringing the lights, I was thinking about how these two things have changed quite a bit this year due to our trying to save and get everything caught up before the new year. I realized that my family's "cup runneth over" even without all the toys on Christmas morning and even without that perfectly smocked dress or jon jon. I am really not as materialistic as this may sound. I just enjoy spoiling my little ones. But I realized that they are still spoiled because the Lord has always provided exactly what we need just in time and I know He will continue. I was reading a friend's blog tonight that really touched me. She has a little girl that is right around Carter's age. She had heard a song on the radio that said "all I want for Christmas is a family". She went on to discuss how she had been wanting someone to call her own, someone to tuck in, someone to call her mom and how the Lord had answered those prayers by giving her a new little girl. This really hit home for me because I remember having those exact same "wants". We prayed for 3 years for Olivia Grace and went through quite a bit of tests and medicine before the Lord answered our prayers. She only wrote maybe a paragraph and I was crying uncontrollably by those few sentences. So while I may not have a living room full of toys from Santa or a smocked outfit for each Sunday before Christmas, I do have a Savior that answers prayers and always provides. A perfect example of His work is that I have what I have always wanted for Christmas - A FAMILY!