Merry Christmas

I'm still making my way through Sister Oaks' book.  She talks about the holidays, and how hard Christmas can be for single people and for married people.  I love Christmas.  Since we decided not to do any sort of sibling gift exchange, my Decembers are usually stress free (except for this year, when I was in charge of the ward Christmas party - thank goodness for delegation and wonderful ward members!).  I avoid the malls, sing in various Christmas music presentations, and enjoy my time to focus on the real meaning of Christmas rather than on the hustle and bustle and material things.

Other than the food, of course, Christmas day is not actually my favourite part of the holiday - possibly a result of too many fights over who got more than who (or should that be whom?), or maybe its even leftover disappointment from the year I searched for, and found, my presents before Christmas - that was a horrible morning.

My favourite is Christmas eve.  We get together with family, sing, eat, read the Christmas story from the bible, have a little white elephant gift exchange game, and eat some more.  And after everyone is gone, and those who are left have gone to bed, I go quietly into the TV room and watch the Nativity video.  It makes me tear up every time, and always at the same point.  When the wise man looks up and sees the new star and his chin starts to tremble as he's holding back tears, I remember the immeasurable greatness of our Saviour, that the gift He has given us is truly worth searching for through our entire lives.  I am blessed because I have found Him.  My private moments during the Nativity video renew my determination to do all I can to stay close to Him, that when He comes, I will be like Him and see Him as He is.

I love my Saviour and wish for all of you this Christmas the peace of knowing He lives for each one of you.

One of the crowd

Some single people feel out of place in a family ward, particularly as they look around and see so many married people with children.  I too sometimes feel out of place in my family ward, but it has nothing to do with my marital status and everything to do with my creative abilities.  Seriously, have you ever noticed the high degree of creative crafting among LDS women?  It seems like half of them have their own photography business, and the other half (admittedly there is lots of overlap here) scrapbook, quilt, do vinyl lettering or make fancy knickknacks for their homes.  Or to sell and supplement their husband's income.

Sadly for me, art class was never my forte.  My homemade cards always look homemade, and I don't actually like knickknacks, so I try to avoid those.  I've been in charge of RS weekday meetings for two years now in my current ward, and have managed to completely avoid having any sort of super Saturday or other type of craft night.  There is no need for me to broadcast my differences to the rest of the ward.

But as I was visiting my aunt last month, she showed me the crafts she had been working on, and one of them jumped out at me and said "you can do this!"  So I tried.  Here is the result - my effort is on the left, the sample is on the right.

Although the shine in the picture suggests a strong possibility of failure as a professional photographer, just looking at the craft makes me think I might be able to fit in to a family ward after all ! (It's a napkin in case you are wondering.  And if any of you reading this happen to get some Christmas tree napkins from me for Christmas, try to act surprised.)