O Christmas Tree

I love Christmas. Growing up, my mom would decorate the entire house for Christmas - and I mean the ENTIRE house! Every room had at least a mini tree in it, we had 2 regular Christmas trees, garlands on the doorways, candles in the windows, and a theme for every bedroom. My room was a winter wonderland theme, since it was all white and sky blue, and I decorated it with glittery snowflakes and white chiffon. Needless to say, it just isn't Christmas for me unless every room has at least a touch of holiday joy. I have several Christmas crafts planned this year. I just got an old 1950 Kenmore cabinet sewing machine, so I'm super excited about making a set of stockings and a tree skirt. This year, we are getting an early start on Christmas decorating in the Meriwether home! We got our Christmas trees the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and the rest is history! An old tradition that my family used to do when I was little was to go to Burnsville, NC and eat breakfast at the Nu Wray Inn before going to a Christmas tree farm and picking out trees. The first year I was married was actually the first time I had ever bought a tree from a parking lot. I almost didn't know what to do! Well, Chris had never been to a tree farm before, so my Dad offered to continue the tradition and take us to Burnsville.

The Nu Wray Inn was built in 1833, and still has the original iron work, oak ceiling beams and rock fireplace. The breakfast is served family style for all guests and visitors, and man was it a feast! It was like Thanksgiving all over again, but with breakfast food (which, in my opinion, is better). We had yogurt, fruit, and granola served in mason jars, homemade biscuits with homemade jelly and apple butter, sausage, free-range scrambled eggs, breakfast casserole, and buttermilk pancakes with steamed apples and whipped cream on top. Delicious!

We had all the coffee and tea we could drink, and relaxed by the fire. Neither Chris nor I are morning people, but it was totally worth the early get-up time. :) Then we went to the same tree farm that we had always gone to, run by the same man. Looking at some old family pictures, I realized that we had been going there to get trees since I was 5 or 6. My dad picked out a 8-ft tree for himself, and we picked out a 6-foot one. Each tree only cost $15! Chris and I even got a little baby tree to put in our bedroom. I love it!!

Chris got to help carry and bale the trees. Such a manly man! :)

Then we went by the Penland School of crafts to look at their gallery - all glass-blowing, metal-working, weaving, dying, artsy stuff. We decided to drive the parkway back, listening to Trans-Siberian Orchestra (another Christmas tradition) and made a quick stop to go to the top of Mt. Mitchell. I do miss my Blue Ridge Mountains. All in all, I would say it was a wonderful holi-day. Can't wait to decorate!

Verna

This past weekend Chris and I went to Atlanta for the National Youth Worker's Convention. We spent some time in a really sweet hotel, got to hear some great worship bands (Shane and Shane was our favorite!) and received some awesome teaching .

The elevators always made me dizzy and made my ears pop.

We took sky bridges everywhere - from our hotel to the convention hotel, to the mall, etc. But that's not the point of this post. Probably the most amazing thing I saw the whole weekend was Verna. Verna is a youth worker who loves young adults with all of her heart, and is still attending conventions and spending time with young kids who love her. Verna is 81 years old, and has been doing youth ministry for 63 years. She houses troubled teens who need some looking after, bakes cookies for the rough-and-tough teens down the street who call her "Grandma", and truly has a heart for seeing young people come to know the love of Christ. She doesn't run a world-famous youth ministry, you wouldn't recognize the name of her church, and most people have never heard of her. Verna is my hero. I do not feel called to work with youth (something this conference even further confirmed), but I want to be just like Verna. I sat in the crowd of 4,000+ youth workers with tears in my eyes because of a woman I don't even know. I was in complete awe of her love and dedication, despite the lack of recognition or pay. And she sure as heck did not let any preconceived notions about "age" change her obedience to God's calling for her life. Verna is one amazing woman.

Calendar - Finally!

I saw this DIY calendar on Pinterest (best and most addicting website ever) a long time ago, and have been wanting to do it for forever. You just get paint chips (free!) and a frame (mine was from a thrift store and cost $2.50) and make it! Then you use dry erase markers to write on it. Chris and I have very different and very crazy schedules, so it really comes in handy to help us remember things. "Oh, I'm supposed to go to that convention with you that weekend? I didn't know that." Now we have a large calendar prominently displayed in our living room, so there are no excuses. :)

I have lots more craft ideas - I'm just waiting for Christmas break so I can do some of them! Also, I just got an old, circa 1950 Kenmore cabinet sewing machine from my aunt, so I can actually sew things now! Well, once I figure out how to change the bobbins correctly. :)

Memoir

So I have started a new project - writing a memoir of sorts relating my life and all that has happened in it. It is not a happy story, but it is a beautiful one with a happy ending because of God's infinite grace and love. I write it for myself and my own cathartic purposes, but I will allow anyone to read it who wishes to. My goals: fully processing my past, a chance to let go, and the time to stop and reflect on exactly how amazing and awesome and wonderful our God is. I will not post it on here, but you can ask me if you want to read it (but not yet because I've only just started on it). I will, however, give you my little introduction. :)

Right now, my life is good. Not perfect – no one’s ever is. Not easy – I don’t think anyone over the age of 13 sees their life as easy, although some have easier lives than others. No, there are plenty of struggles and hardships in my life, but it is good. There was a time in my life, however, when things were not so good. I wasn’t starving, homeless, walking ten miles to get water, or anything like that. But I was caught in an emotional blizzard that threatened to take me away forever. I tried to bury myself to escape the continual onslaught of the despair, depression and devastation that was my life. Thankfully, God chose to work through my pitiful self and bring me to where I am today. I don’t typically dwell on past horrors, or really even remember them at all, but I think that God gave us memories for a reason. They teach us about ourselves, about the world, and about people. But most importantly they show us what we need to know about God – His character, His justice and His unending love. So here is my story. The beautiful good and the disgustingly ugly. May all praise and honor be to Him who holds us each in His hand.