The Twelve Days of Christmas (Parra style!)

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me....

Twelve lawnmowers humming (my romantic small engine mechanic ♥ )
Eleven peppers roasting
Ten piles a-heaping (we have leaves...everywhere!!)
Nine loads of laundry
Eight gallons of milk (per week...we need a cow!)
Seven swarms a swatting (gnats!)
Six geese a laying (literally, over at Uncle David's)
Five molten wings (as hot as lava...only Luis can eat them!!)
Four crawling bugs (Palmetto, to be exact)
Three torque wrenches
Two fried tamales
and
A part for our lightning-struck stove

I Wonder as I Wander

Have you ever been wading in the ocean, walking out deeper and deeper as you face the horizon? Then, after being out there for a while, you turn around and face the shore, and you find that you have drifted far to the left or to the right of your spot on the beach. We begin to walk back toward our point of origin, now with our attention focused on a target, a definitive destination...the very thing that was lacking when we were facing the other way. Sometimes life can be that way, as well. We set out on a course that is right before us, thinking that we are completely in control, only to find that our intended course was not what was intended for us at all. We can get so caught up in the here and now. So captivated by the sights and sounds of those things that are only pleasing for a moment, but have no eternal value. Trapped by things that seem divine, at first glance, with mortal eyes.

Then, at other times, we feel as though we are drifting, wandering without a purpose or point. Our focus is fixed, yet when we momentarily shift our eyes, it seems as if we are going nowhere. Our path has taken twists and turns for no apparent reason at all. Our trek seems futile, at times, and we question each step. Then after a long time of walking, steadily fixed on the unchanging, immovable Mark, we are given a gift. We, for a moment, have the ability to see our voyage from the viewpoint of a high flying eagle. We see that the twists and turns were necessary shifts that had steered us away from danger...danger that we never even came close to...danger that we never even realized was there. And although these crooked paths made the journey a bit longer, and bit more curious, we are stronger and healthier because of them. We realize that what we perceived as walking blindly was actually a sanctuary paved through a mine field...a trail that we would not have chosen, had it been left up to us to choose. Yet every step, a precise calculation by the One who always sees the beginning from the end.

The difference in these two walks is not really in the walking at all. It lies in the point on which we are focused. The first, a vast sea of endlessness, beautiful to the eye, detrimental to the soul. The second, a firm foundation, unchanged by the rolling waves or shifting sand. Life giving, and secure.

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"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 (New Living Translation)

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

I went out his evening, by myself, for a relaxing, testosterone-free, ladies Christmas party with some of the gals from church. I left my three "merry gentlemen" at home. When I returned, Luis was asleep on the bottom bunk, and the boys had beaten me to the door, putting in their snack requests....When I asked why they didn't ask Dad to get it for them, they responded "He said wait for Mom to get home". Ahhh...it was a heavenly three hours, while it lasted...

Let it Flow, Let it Flow, Let it Flow!

Today we finished school relatively early, and I put the finishing touches on my Christmas cards. The weather was so mild that I let the boys go out to play in shorts and t-shirts...definitely not the central New York, cabin-fever winters around here! I was going around, doing some chores, when I peeked out the front door to check on the boys. They were busily playing in the front yard. After a few more minutes, I peeked out again, and saw Joshua and Jonathan huddled in the soccer goal. I called out to them, to make sure everything was alright, and Josh decided to then inform me that his little brother was bleeding. As Jonathan began to walk toward me, I noticed a large, grapefruit sized blood stain on his t-shirt. As he came closer, I noticed that there was also blood on his shorts and hands. Uncle David came into the yard and made a comment about the large quantity of blood. So, I lifted up Jonathan's shirt, and saw that his whole little tummy was stained red...more blood. So, I got him in the house, went to the restroom, and began to strip him down. I wet a wash cloth and started to clean up his once olive, now crimson skin. As I put his clothes to soak in cold water, I tried to find the source of the bleeding. After wiping for a while, I noticed a small, pin-sized cut, just over his lower ribcage. I mean this cut was so small, that I only noticed it because the blood began to flow after I cleaned him. How this tiny opening made such a horrid mess, I'll never know! All I can figure is that there must have been a small vein near the cut, and it just kept pumping out through the path of least resistance...namely, his cut. After about 15 minutes of pressure, I was finally able to get that little pesty cut to stop bleeding. I bandaged him up, and "Shouted" out his clothes. Jonathan later admitted that he picked an old scab, just to see if it would bleed. He is definitely all boy! Just another average, ordinary day at the Parra ranch.

We Wish you a Merry Christmas

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to go Christmas carolling at a nursing home in Fairfax. It ended up just Jonathan and I, along with a great group from our new church (that we just love!). Jonathan was (and still is) in dire need of a haircut, but due to the lack of time, I just wet it, slicked it back and hair sprayed it. (He's three, and gave no protest...miracle!). When we got to the nursing home, one of the ladies from church commented that he looked like a little Eddie Munster...after looking at his little slick hair and sweet face, I had to admit she was right! No matter...he and his little friend J.R. were the stars of the show as they passed out presents to all of the residents that attended our little gathering. Out of my boys, Jonathan is most assuredly the more outgoing one, and he gave handshakes, hugs and a "Merry Christmas" to each of the men and women that he talked to. My heart was really touched as I watched the sweet elderly residents sing along with us to the old familiar Christmas songs. Even though we were only there a short while, I felt like we had touched eternity . I left that center feeling so full, knowing that I had received much more than I could have ever given.