I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13
My favorite scripture, the one I use the most and build my faith on. I don’t know about you but why is it that as soon as I get myself motivated to go full speed ahead something derails me, every time. As I continue to push through I pray “I will not be moved by this but Lord keep me moving” He does but am I going in my direction or His! Over the past two weeks I have been hurdling obstacles in my finances, marriage, family, career and the worst of all Christmas decorating until finally today when I felt like crying I broke out into the most joyful laugh. I know that there are times God will keep us challenged to make us stronger by teaching us something or to see how bad we want it but there are times where we have to stop and ask ourselves is this my will or yours Lord. My goodness after feeling like I went ten rounds with Mike Tyson I have so much to be thankful for. So as 2012 is approaching its end, I am going to make the most of it and continue to push through by doing what I love to do, despite whatever comes my way.
FYI, I am changing the 12 days of Christmas to the 14 days of Decorating Disaster BLISS.
Obstacle 1: So after falling and spraining my wrist and chipping my elbow I finally finished decking my halls and what I think looks amazing looks terrible in my pictures. First off I need a good camera and second there is so much natural light in my home that I get too much glare even at night, nothing a Nikon D90 won’t take care of…hint, hint Santa.
Obstacle 2: I am okay with no Cable but NO INTERNET! This is where the financial/marriage almost ended part comes in. I have automatic draft set up for my cable service so I decide to pay the bill ahead till January, good right? Wrong. My direct deposit never made the bank so my payment didn’t clear and what I thought was promotional messages for the new and faster DSL service for next year were disconnect messages. So my $155.00 monthly bill ended up being $465.00 for reconnection and a two months security. Not a happy time at the Hersberger’s, especially in the middle of football season. This was bigger than the end of the world happening. Well, we survived and I call it a GOD THING because instead of sitting in all weekend my husband came with me to cut down all the greenery I used to decorate the house- inside and out. He was quite impressed with my greenery weaving talent and even discovered his while decorating the MAN CAVE.
Obstacle 3: No money. It can really depress someone who loves to create! But that is when we need to access our God given talents. So here are some of my freebees.
Greenery: I went to my parent’s property and cut down two trees, one short needle and one long needle. I also found some red berry bushes that when put together with some shrubbery looked just like holly. Using a small hand saw and clipper, I bunched together sprays of greenery with wire and attached them to all of the posts that line my driveway. Then I used the excess branches to cover the entry of my doorway. Added lights and it now looks like a runway for Santa’s reindeer.
Inside I weaved together a garland strip that I added to the top of my living room window to enhance some holiday color to the room. I even used the left over trunk for a Christmas card display.
CHRISTMAS TREE: I kept it simple with just some white lights, a berry garland and silver and gold poinsettias. I took an old Bible I had that was falling apart and used the dictionary in the back of it and the concordance to make an antique looking paper chain along with a scrolled pointed tree topper!
Even though we are supposed to burn an old bible I don’t think I ever could. I was too convicted to cut any of the chapters so still have them and I think I will use them somehow to support the scripture below.
Deuteronomy 6: 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 Always remember these commands I give you today. 7 Teach them to your children, and talk about them when you sit at home and walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Write them down and tie them to your hands as a sign. Tie them on your forehead to remind you, 9 and write them on your doors and gates.
Table Centerpiece: While treasure hunting in Florida in September, I found a palm tree leaf and some screw pines that I used to create this holiday centerpiece, just added greenery, curly willow and some pinecones. Again simple, zero cost.
Obstacle 4: Christmas lights, I HATE THEM. After decorating my whole driveway and the outside of my home, every other day I would have a set blow out. I even bought LED’s because they are supposed to be so much better…..Forget about it. There has to be a better way. If I only could find a safe way to light all the natural green on fire at the same time to light everything up for one nice picture I would do it. But then I would be sacrificing this whole blogging thing because I don’t think I could take my computer to jail with me.
Obstacle 5: My UPSIDEDOWN CHRISTMAS TREE-a Christian tradition where the tree was hung from the ceiling to represent the sign of the trinity. After years of trying to convince my husband to hang the tree from the ceiling he gave me the GO AHEAD along with the “You are crazy and I am not helping you.” GREAT! So determined me, did it (I just called my Dad, lol) Now, my Dad thought I was crazy too because my ceiling is 32 ft. high so we came up with a better plan in my Jacuzzi room which is only 12” ft. Well it looks beautiful but the pictures don’t do it justice. I tried daytime, night time, martini time and nothing looks good. Guess we need to plan a party at my house to appreciate it. How did I do it, I used two hooks one went into the ceiling and the other into the bottom of the tree. Then I used a rope to pull it up and attach them together.
Obstacle 6: Well, as long as Dad is around I guess I should take advantage so up with the sleigh. As I held what felt like 500 lbs. with the top of my head, we managed to hang my new find over the fireplace. I plan to make a couch table out of it later but for now it looks awesome decorated with some greenery and an old pair of wooden golf clubs I found at a yard sale.
Obstacle 7: Then today after the horrible wind last night all of the greenery around my door blew apart. Just when I finally got the last thorn out of my finger from the nasty to work with red berry bushes I used for color. UUUGGGHHHHH!
So how can I not just laugh, especially now because we are heading to Florida Sunday for a week only to come home to take it all down. Merry Christmas everyone! May you all have a blessed time with family and friends – remembering our truest gifts come from above. th
