Christmas 2012

I will be the first to admit that as much as I was looking forward to this Christmas because of how much fun Grant was having with all of the festivities, lights, and characters that go along with Christmas, there was also a large part of me that was dreading it... The fact that I had to work both Eve and Day and all the running and the hustle and bustle.  Then, we ended up with colds on top of it all.  I admit to losing sight of what Christmas is all about. 

I want to share a recent post from "Chase Brauda's Prayer Team" facebook page.  Chase is the son of a teacher I had my senior year in high school and her recent post struck me in a very profound way and really puts things in perspective.

December 19, 2011 – my own personal date which will live in infamy. On this day last year, I woke up early for whatever reason – not a usual event for me, especially since it was my first day of Christmas vacation from school. Though Chase had a mid-January appointment with his gastroenterologist in Savannah, I felt a heavy burden that he needed blood work. With a text to a friend at Blackshear Family Practice, she told me to bring him in at 1:00.

Now imagine waking your child up on his first day of Christmas vacation telling him that we were going to get blood work “just because.” Needless to say, my son was not my biggest fan at that moment. Later that day after watching my first episode of The Walking Dead with Chase and my dad, I headed home to clean house and got the call no parent wants to get. Chase had abnormal cells in his blood and after consulting with the doctor at Wolfson Children’s Hospital, the doctor I would find out later was an oncologist, he recommended that we bring Chase immediately to the emergency room in Jacksonville.

And so it began. Ladies Home Journal recently sponsored an essay contest entitled “Tell Us About the Day that Changed Your Life.” Though I considered entering this contest, to be honest, I couldn’t decide which day to write about. Would it be December 19? Or December 20th when we were told that tests confirmed that Chase had acute myeloid leukemia? Or maybe December 26th when we were told that Chase had high risk AML and would need a bone marrow transplant. Or later when we were informed that Morgan was not only a match, but a perfect match for Chase. April 17th, the day of the transplant, when my two children touched hands through a wall of glass? Or would I write about the day that Chase signed the finish line cancer free and we walked out of the hospital? What about day 100 when we joyfully loaded up his friends in a stretch Hummer limo and went to celebrate at Dave and Busters? Or was it the awful day of August 9 when we learned Chase had relapsed? Or even worse, September 2nd when my baby boy took his last breath here on Earth.

Of course, there are many non-cancer days that are highlights in my life. The day I met my husband, the day we got married, the birth of my children, the death of my dad….. But after much reflection on this writing topic, if I had written the essay, I would have written about the day that I surrendered my life over to Jesus Christ. I was on a youth retreat with my childhood friend. The youth group leader had asked us to walk out on the beach where we were staying and write a letter in the sand to God. On this day, I asked for God’s forgiveness for my sins, acknowledged His sacrifice for me, and asked Him for His help in living the rest of my life for Him. And though I could write countless essays detailing my failings as a Christian since that day at the beach, He has never left me. Without that day at the beach, none of the other days I’ve mentioned would hold any value. Without Christ, I would not have the assurance of an eternal life free from the burdens of Earthly living. I would not KNOW that there is another date that will surpass it all……. The day that my family will one day begin our eternities together. Thank you, Jesus. YOU CHANGED MY LIFE!

It made me stop to think about what day I would write about.  Would it be about something selfish and worldly or would I keep my focus on Christ just as we all should do not just during this time of the but all year long.

Jesus is the reason for the season and this is how we celebrated His birthday

A family trip to the Dells

Fun times in the Dells

Our time as a family just the three soon to be four of us

Family time with the Ninnemans

Grandma Ninneman, Autumn, Grant and my beautiful cousins

Family time with the Fishers

4 Generations:  Great Grandpa Cliff, Grandpa George, Matt and Grant

Family time with the Pippings... I admit that by this point in all the running around I did not take a single picture unfortunately.  Boo for me!  But as you can see we had so much fun and Grant loved every moment.