Christmastime in Maxine

Merry Week-Before-Christmas from Avila Beach-

Today the sun is bright, and blue sky is even brighter, and there are diamonds dancing across the bay.  This feels and looks so much different than Christmas’s past ~~ familiar Christmas décor is still packed away in boxes in PA.  Instead of being busy with shopping , pet therapy visits, parties, baking , planning family gatherings ~~ we are looking for housing , looking into job opportunities, and anticipating another week+ of taking Maxine on to new sites, visiting family in southern and northern California.   J

 We have a tiny Christmas tree with homemade decorations perched on our dining room table, Kai has an art project on the wall, we have a few Christmas cards out, and twinkle lights here and there.   Plain and simple.  We told some new friends, (Keith and I met a couple, w/dog, at the doggie beach, they invited us for dinner on Sunday evening in their Pismo Beach home---{Yes, Peg, Melissa’s mom there not only is a Pismo Beach, but people  actually live there!!!}  What warm hospitality to invite strangers into your home! ) about our journey and how different this Christmas feels for us all. Lisa and Dick, our new Pismo Beach friends,  are gracious and wonderful people, & we so enjoyed our evening  with them  ~~ and as I was ooh-aahing over their Christmas Tree, telling them how odd it feels to have our Christmas things still in boxes .... Dick responded quickly, “Yes, but how many people can say they’ve just had the adventure of a lifetime traveling cross country with your family?”

As they say in PA, “True That!”

So though Christmas looks and feels so different, I am still learning that different  is OK.  More than OK .

A few of you have been asking…. So what’s next? AND, some of you have asked us not to stop writing……Because you want to hear the rest of the story J   We do too J We’ll keep writing and we’re thankful you’re still with us on this incredible journey.

As far as what is next….. As far as our plans ~~~ well, there are dreams in our hearts.  We are not sure what we will do, or where we will work, or where exactly we will live. I know, that is SO CRAZY.  Sometimes I think that too.  But I think CRAZY might be OK as well.

Abby and I were talking yesterday while the guys were out fishing. The hunter-gatherer guys (whooo-yah) were out getting food for the family.  We were talking about other journeys, other families, other stories.

Like…. The Pilgrims on the Mayflower ~~ they landed in Plymouth.  And, the first thing they did was gather toegether on dry ground and thank God for …., well, for everything.  And then… They still lived on the boat, searching for the best place to build, plant. They met friends, Squanto, Massasoit, who gave them wise counsel on how to begin in this strange and long awaited new land.  The journey across the Atlantic was one thing, beginning again was a whole ‘nother adventure.   Were the women so ready to nest?….the children so ready to run?….and the men so ready to build?

Like ....Noah and his crew.  I laughed out loud thinking about them.  I mean really.  40 days and 40 nights rocking and rolling with all those animals,  children and grandchildren, in the dark seas…  He had a Promise from God tucked in his heart, but not a clue what life ahead really looked like.  When he landed….he had a weee too much to drink.    He did.   I don’t know if he was celebrating or just plain exhausted or overwhelmed or all of the above. God bless that guy.  What a journey.

 

And then ….of course…. I thought  of Joseph and Mary, who was GREAT with Child. Nine months pregnant, donkey transportation, no reservations, dust, dirt. Did Mary long to be in a place she called “home”on this first CHRISTmas day? Perhaps ~~ But, I think that perhaps  the Promise-Giver and the Promise-Given made the journey and the stable worth it all. True that.

The Reason for the season!

 

Woo Hoo for Christmas in California!

 P.S.
When Kai and I made a manger scene this morning....she was coloring Mary. As she made swirls on Mary's tummy she said, "These are butterflies in her tummy, she is so excited!" Then when she colored Joseph, she put a smile on his face and said "He's winking ;-) " And Gigi treasured these things in her heart.