Holidays 06 Re-Cap

Well, I'm finally back in Weatherford from an at-times great, at-times not fun, at-times, well, "haphazard" holiday vacation time. The original plan was: spend the "Christmas weekend" in Mansfield at Missy's parents, come back to Wford Chrsitmas Eve for services, etc., go back to Mansfield just for Christmas Day, then back to Wford to unpack-repack, then go to Kerrville for the rest of the week/weekend. Sounded good and doable. While most of that did happen, there were some changes...

...mainly, Missy's Granny Dorothy passed away the Monday before Christmas. While she was old and quite frail, to our knowledge there was no pressing terminal illness. We have our ongoing suspicions that she was sick "secretly", but that's not important. So, our Mansfield plans got pushed up a few days due to funerals, etc. The funeral itself was outstanding. She was a Pentacostal minister, so there was a chance that the service would be, well, "interesting" due to lots of emotion, etc., but it was quite respectful all things considered. Hearing the testimonies of how she truly was Jesus to those she was around was so amazing. Age didn't matter, race didn't matter, "position in life" didn't matter, denomination didn't matter (she was always so gracious to me, and even though I come from a different Christian-faith tradition from her, I always could tell that she considered us to be on the "same side", something we could ALL learn from...).

Then back to Mansfield for the "planned" part of the trip. Fun times, albeit with the background knowledge that there was grief going on...mostly internally for the Castles. Jax had a ball, and it was nice to just get away a bit. Christmas Eve back at church in Wford was a needed time, especially for Missy. Tears often came, especially at the communion rail. She could finally grieve openly (something hard to do in front of her parents, who tend to grief more internally from what I can tell), and I was glad she had that time with God to do that. After helping in the nursery for the 8 pm service (I have a new respect for nursery workers...), back to Mansfield. Let Jax get his big "Santa gift" on the 25th (the Castles do "Christmas" on the 24th, with the exception of a cool, unwrapped gift for the kiddo), then later that evening returned to Wford. Left for Kerrville the morning of the 26th...

We always LOVE going to Kerrville, and for the most part it was fun again to get away, see my folks (and Granny/Aufu), etc. We had few plans, which always works best. We also continued our new "tradition" of doing something New Years' Eve with Scott, Shannon (and now Chase) Austin. Always a fun time.

So, here is the "Good, Bad, and Huh?" of the holiday time (fully knowing that some of the "bad" and "huh" may be "good" in the big picture):

GOOD: Being with family, the blessing that was Granny Dorothy's life, the love and giving attitude of this season, seeing Jax have a BALL over Christmas, having Jax answer (every time) "Jesus" when I asked him who Christmas was about, seeing the Austin's, my "hike" on Saturday in Kerrville, achieving my goal of staying in the 180s weight-wise til the end of the holidays (so I could really work on getting to my goal of mid-170s during 2007), reading a VERY good book ("Deception Point" by Dan Brown), having some awesome "porch time" involving good music, a swing, my laptop, and visioning for 2007 in the youth ministry I serve...

BAD: Well, I won't go in to too much detail, but "finally" getting in trouble with my boss (long story...but I had an interesting phone call with him while in Kerrville...), seeing my wife get so upset with some legitimate accidents (involving lost jewelry/personal items, all which were found, by the way...), dealing with death during the holiday time, ongoing (will they ever end?) financial struggles which seem to alway come to a head during December, finding out that the Dec. 31st Youth Sunday School (while I was away) was, well, "interesting"...some damage control now needed..., not getting to see Aaron, Becky, Madi, and Peyton Travis like we usually do during Christmas...

HUH?: Struggling to understand at times the "way" people in my life think, work, etc..., continued internal struggle with "what am I supposed to be doing" in ministry...long story...

That said, I am excited for 2007. There is much "up in the air" involving my life (and my family's life), but despite the confusion, I know that God is sovereign (and I am not) so what needs to happen WILL happen...