Christmas celebration in Sweden

I wanted to share some dear memories and Christmas traditions with my friends at Grace Life.

When the first of four Advent candles is lit in Swedish homes and churches, there are three more weeks until the arrival of Christmas on December 24.

Candles and the concept of light are very central to the Swedish Christmas celebration, because the days are shorter due to the sun is rising later and setting sooner winter time.

One of the best memories I have from growing up as a child is how we celebrate Lucia which is a big Swedish tradition during the Christmas season on December 13. All the children at schools everywhere get dressed in white robes holding candles and with tinsel in our hair. One lucky girl from each class got to be Lucia, the queen of light, with a crown of white candles on her head singing with her hands pressed together like a Saint. Last in the "Lucia train" are the Star boys, holding paper stars on a stick and wearing conical hats decorated with stars, symbolizing the star of Bethlehem. We sing Christmas carols in front of our teachers and parents who are able to come. After singing a few Lucia carols, we offered our audience saffron flavoured buns called "Lusse Cats", that I am now baking with my own kids at home in December.

Later I have learned that Lucia came from Italy. Until quite recently the celebration of Lucia, which means light, was local to the western Sweden only, but during the last century it spread to the entire country.

There is a Swedish school for children in Falls Church where many Swedish/American children attend on Saturday mornings to learn the native language. I am proud to say that my children enjoy our Saturdays there. And last Saturday we, the parents and teachers, had all the children dress up in the white gowns with a Lucia performance at the Swedish Embassy in Washington DC. It was a lot of fun! Many pictures was taken, which reminded me and many other Swedish parents of my child hood at Christmas time.

I wish all of you a Very Merry, Peace full Christmas and please don't get too caught up in all the gift giving because after all it is the dear memories of Family and friends that is most important.

Thank you for letting me share a part of me.

Mia

A Gift That Brought Healing

Today is my youngest's birthday. He's 14 and I've always called him my gift. Jonathan's entry into our lives began at one of the darkest and most painful moments and I will be eternally grateful to the Lord for blessing us with such a lovely smiling boy.

My father had heart trouble for most of my life. He had his first open heart surgery when I was 9 and the procedure was fairly new. It was a very big deal and he was at UVA hospital for nearly 3 weeks. We learned to take very good care of him, and because of his dedication to walking and eating in a healthy way, the Lord spared him for nearly 22 years which was some kind of miracle. When I was 31 he went in for another open heart surgery and since it had worked the time before, we were somewhat complacent. He would recover, we would have more years and we were absolutely, totally wrong about that. His heart was too damaged and in 5 days he was gone. He only opened his eyes once and the Lord allowed me to be there at that moment to say words of love and goodbye.

To compound issues, John and I had been trying for another baby...which was kind of crazy since we had just blinked at each other and were pregnant with the first two. This one was taking a bit longer and the day my dad died, I found out I wasn't pregnant. Two blows at once and I dissolved in tears and heartache.

But...and I love a good but....the Lord wasn't finished with this portion of my story. We helped my mother cope with the funeral and some paper work and spent the next couple of weeks up and down the highway taking care of her. My husband and I hardly saw each other and it was usually to trade off the boys and run by on our way to someplace else. But...again the big BUT....I got pregnant. It was nothing less than miraculous considering the circumstances and we both found it hard to believe.

The first thing the doctors always ask a woman who might be pregnant is, when was the first day of your last cycle? I knew it because it was the day my father died. God had welcomed my dear daddy into His loving arms and had turned around and given me my precious Jonathan. From that moment on, I had life to celebrate and the joy of growing a baby under my heart.

There were still hard days, but they were tempered by the sweetness of expecting my little bundle of boy joy. He was born on December 4th and we named him Jonathan Charles...Charles in honor of my father.

The Lord takes away and He gives. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Scared of the Unknown

Have you ever had to do something that scared you silly? Maybe you flew in an airplane for the first time or did some rock climbing, or jumped from a plane. I remember asking my husband (then just the guy I was crushing on) out on a date and my palms were sweaty and I could hardly speak. I persevered because the outcome was important enough to me to make the fear worthwhile. I'll tell you that story sometime....

I think accepting Christ into your heart is a little like that. When we are standing on one side of that choice we might have a vague idea of what it will be like, but we are being asked to give our WHOLE selves over to the Lord and the thought of that might be very scary. What's He going to ask us to do and what happens if we don't want to do it? We stand at the door and He is knocking and the big question is...are we going to answer it and walk into freedom or hang back in fear of the unknown?

For me, opening that door and stepping over the threshold of faith has been an incredible experience. It's still BEING an incredible experience because God is not finished with me and I'm being challenged at every turn. I find myself trembling and fearful sometimes, but the life I've found in Christ is beautifully satisfying.

All day long I've been thinking of this because of a video I recently saw. Beagles who had been used for testing had been caged for their entire lives and were now rescued. Their cages were opened and they faced a threshold and a big scary beautiful world....and FREEDOM! Watch the video and cry like I did. Taking that step is a wonderful thing.

Blue Christmas

"I'll have a blue Christmas without you. I'll be so blue thinking about you. Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree...."

Right about there, my dad asked me to stop singing that song and to never sing it again. He hadn't done that before and since my voice was pretty good, I was a bit surprised. He explained.

Years ago when he was a young Navy Seabee stationed on the island of Guam he had his first Christmas away from home. He was a Blue Ridge Mountain boy and Christmas for him meant family and home and cold weather and all the things he was used to. My grandparents were very poor and presents were not even part of the picture, but Dad missed Christmas. Instead he was building roads, and guarding Japanese prisoners of war on a tropical island thousands of miles away. He told of how the prisoners begged for a weapon in order to kill themselves because of their lost honor at being captured. Hard things for a young man to see and hear.

Fast forward to the 50s and that Elvis song and it tore at my dad's heart and reminded him of those hard days on Guam. Christmas music would make him cry tears for the boys who wouldn't get to come home.

This year the ladies of GLCC are packaging cookies to send to our deployed men and women. They won't be able to be with their families, but they CAN get a little box of goodies that says "home" and might just help take the Christmas blues away...even for a short time.

December 9th from 7-9pm

GLCC gym

5$ admission to cover shipping costs

Finger food to share

Thankful for Heroes

My dad is a retired police officer. He joined the U.S. Park Police in 1959 and retired in 1984. He was also a volunteer firefighter in Silver Spring, Maryland for a time.

He was responsible for commanding a unit of police officers during the riots in Washington, D.C. in 1968. At that time, I was just a young girl. I had no idea how much danger he was in at that time. I just knew that he was a police officer and he was my dad and he was my hero! (And if there were any "box lunches" left from his shift that his officers didn't eat, he brought them home to the family for us to eat! They were actually pretty good!!) Later, as a teen/young adult, I was able to look back and realize the peril that my dad faced each day he worked in his job -- whether during the riots in 1968 or just doing his job -- walking a beat, directing traffic, patrolling the National Mall, etc. Later in his career, he became an instructor, teaching new recruits, which took him out of most of the dangerous aspects of his job.

Although he didn't do a lot of volunteer firefighting after I was born, there is one incident I recall. We had just moved into a new home in Alexandria, Virginia, and the grass was about knee-high in the yard. The builder had the grass mowed before we moved in, but it was just tossed in a pile under the back porch. After moving in, my dad went to remove the pile of grass -- and found that yellow jackets had built a nest in the pile!! He donned his turnout gear -- coat, gloves, helmet and face covering -- and proceeded to clear out all that old grass without fear of being stung!

Today, on this day before Thanksgiving, I am thankful for the real heroes in our world -- the servicemen and women, police officers and firefighters. All those folks who keep us safe so that we can go about our day-to-day activities with a sense of security. Yes, as a little girl, my dad was my hero. Today, he still is -- but so are all of those people who stand on the front lines to protect us.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

Our very own Jen Upmeyer shared these thoughts with us for Thanksgiving.

I am thankful for an untidy house, because that means I have a family that lives in it and feels comfortable enough to make it home.

I am thankful for dirty dishes, because that means we have food in our bellies and family time around the table.

I am thankful for dirty laundry, because that means we have warm clothes on our back today.

I am thankful for constant chatter in the house, because that means God has blessed me with two spirited children that love to play.

I am thankful for the Legos I constantly step on, because that means I have two little boys with creative minds who love to stretch their imagination.

I am thankful that my husband is at work (haha! keep up with me!), because that means he is employed today and able to support his family.

I am thankful for the 7am alarm clock on Sunday morning, because that means I am able to go freely worship God at the church of my choice.

I am thankful for an overly busy schedule, because that means God has blessed me with a beautiful family and an abundance of friends who love me and want to spend time with me.

At all times and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father. Ephesians 5: 20

Mother and Daughter Duos

This will be my second Thanksgiving without my mother. She passed away in August of 2010 and I thought I was through the worst of missing her, but I thought wrong. For some reason, maybe it's just a holiday thing, I miss her more than ever.

Being in the kitchen together was one of our favorite places. She loved to cook and I love to cook, so it was a natural place for us to chat and catch up on life...the kids, my marriage, my faith, my home....all the things moms care about. We would make the biggest mess (neither of us being the neatest of cooks) and we'd sing and have a grand old time. Those days are gone for me and the house has been sold and Thanksgiving with Mom will only be in my heart.

I realized how tender my emotions were at Walmart of all places. I was doing my pre-Thanksgiving shopping and for some reason, many of the shoppers were mother/daughter duos. Many of the mothers were elderly, in scooters, and the daughters were helping them gather the items they needed to create that special bread pudding or macaroni and cheese. One thing I noticed though, was they were all fussing with each other...mother knowing what she wanted and daughter telling her what she thought and biting words all around. I know that feeling and I've been there with my own mother. I wanted to run to them and tell them to cherish this time, even the Walmart time, to love each other and not fight over what type of butter to get. None of the things they were thinking of as important really mattered at all.

My eyes filled up as I walked away. At that moment I wished more than anything to be able to spend time in my mother's kitchen, in her presence telling her how much I love her. I can't, but perhaps YOU can. This Thanksgiving, if you have the joy of spending it with your mother, tell her you love her, sing and laugh with her, and make sure you give thanks to the Lord for her presence in your life.

Mother, the ribbons of your love are woven around my heart. ~Author Unknown