My favorite present

This year I received incredible Christmas presents. As I've already mentioned, we got a camera! Yay!

My other present that I must brag about came from my husband. Back in November, Cam and I visited Andrew and Kelly in Blacksburg, VA. One day we traveled to this cute little town with a country store as the main attraction. And there it was... the most unique, beautiful, precious nativity scene I've ever seen. I wanted it with everything inside of me, but knowing the "right" answers I suggested we buy it for Cam's mom for Christmas. Thirty minutes later we came back to buy it and it was gone! How could it be gone?! My heart broke a little -- one knowing I would never have it and two knowing I wouldn't even be able to gift it.

Fast forward to Christmas morning as I open my present from Cam. My NATIVITY SCENE!!!! I couldn't contain my excitement and joy -- I lept into Cam's arms!

I love that it's unique. Hand crafted, hand painted -- the one and only!

 I've decided my favorite piece is Joesph. I'm not sure why yet, but I love him.

 Maybe it's his rosy cheeks and pudgy belly?

 The three wise men are a close second

Cam pointed out that they look like the Jesus Storybook illustrations. Maybe that's why I love them so much.

A new camera for Christmas!

This Christmas has been special to Cam and me in so many ways! The most special part by far was having both of our families together for a short period of time. My mama drove all the way from Connecticut to step out of her comfort zone, to spend time with us and Cam's family. I LOVED it!

We celebrated Christmas with mama a couple days early. This year we bought her the Willow Tree nativity scene. I knew she would really like it, but had no idea she would respond with such humble gratefulness. She was honored and couldn't believe someone would say she should get a gift like that. Little did I know, two minutes later I responded the exact same way. Mama bought us an incredible Canon rebel. I started sobbing. There is nothing Cam and I have done nor are we at a point in our lives where I could ever say we deserve such a gift. I was overwhelmed with emotion and cried from being so honored. Thanks mom for a gift that will capture memories our entire life!

So here are the first of many pictures to come... and hopefully a push in my blogging life.

 

The first portrait

 

Cam and Andrew at Otto's (a local brewery)

 

Mama

 I was just a second too late to capture the beer mixing, but still a cool picture!

 I will frame this in our house somewhere

 Our niece Baylie celebrated her 7th birthday with us!

 She loved getting her picture taken

Smith Family 2012

 Love this picture

 Our Christmas Eve tradition continued. This year we bought pjs for everyone to join -- I bought matching ones so no one would like someone else's better

 The girls

 Love this picture of them

 A white Christmas this year! I have never seen it snow this much -- the yard was beautiful!

 My partner in crime, Kelly. Having a sister has been a ton of fun!

Andrew and Kelly

A different season...

Though I am not quite ready to tell the world of our story, this season has been different.

This season has been full of sorrow and tears -- a season of confusion, anger, hopelessness, doubt...

Cam and I have been taking a class at the seminary every Tuesday night. The class is on marriage and family counseling in the Church. This past Tuesday was the final night of class. Dr. Zink was humble, vulnerable, empowering, sensitive, and loving. Traits few men have even at his age of 60.

The class was on hope. A topic that I want to avoid like the plague right now. Not because I don't want hope, but because hope is hard in this season.

A few points
- Hope is not passive (though our culture piles plenty of that on our plates)
- Hope is active (huh?)
- Hope is rightly displayed in scripture (duh)
- Hope takes faith and trust, not in myself but in a good God of promises

And even now writing those words good God tears fill my eyes. Oh how I know this and how I want to feel this again -- it takes time.

You see as children of our God we hope actively by trusting and resting in faithful promises. We serve and love a God of promises. A God who has never broken those promises to a broken and unthankful people. A God who weeps beside us and says it was never supposed to be this way child. A God who is not passive as we tend to be, but is active in restoring our broken world.

So in this season I pray for hope, but not just passive hope. I pray for active hope. I pray for trust in a God who is trustworthy. I pray that I too would be like the many in scripture who hoped and waiting and trusted, because a seed of promise is growing. Growing takes time, growing takes nurture, growing take pruning -- that seed of promise will grow.