Away, and alone, in a manger

This Christmas season, I found myself pondering the birth of our Lord.  For some reason, even though I’ve known the story of Jesus’ birth my whole life, it struck me in a new way this year.  It suddenly struck me that Mary and Joseph were alone when Jesus was born, and how unusual that would have been.  I guess, in reality, their families could have been there with them, but Luke 2 says that when the shepherds got to the stable they found only Mary, Joseph and the baby.  

What was the deal with their families?

I’m especially curious because when a woman is about to give birth she is usually surrounded by family and friends, at the very least by close relatives like her mother.   Where was Mary’s mother?   Where was the rest of Mary’s family?  For that matter, what about Joseph’s family?  

Clinton had an interesting thought about it.  He wondered if maybe they were alone because their families shunned them due to Mary’s pregnancy.   Unmarried daughter claims the child she carries is God’s child, and her fiancée is going to marry her anyway?  At the very least they would have been accused of disgraceful behavior, and at the most of being completely insane.   The possibility of the pain and suffering Mary and Joseph may have experienced, through no fault of their own, made me so sad! How lonely they must have felt!

I tried to picture what it could have been like for their families.  I would think that both families were surely in Bethlehem at the same time, as both Mary and Joseph were descendants of David.  EVERYONE had to go to his own town to be taxed and counted for the census.   Surely their families were there.

How would the families have heard about the baby if they were estranged from Mary and Joseph?  Even with Bethlehem full to overflowing with people, a story as unusual as the one the shepherds told would surely have reached every nook and cranny of every street corner.  Imagine the possibility that the new grandparents would have heard along with all the rest of Bethlehem about their grandson being born. What would the family members’ reactions have been, hearing that the baby born in a manger was their grandson/nephew/cousin?  

What could have been their reaction to the amazing story the shepherds told?  Angels declared that Mary and Joseph’s baby was the Christ.  Perhaps they reconsidered the truthfulness of what Mary had told them about Jesus’ conception.  Do you think they were more likely to have believed the shepherds’ story than the average citizen did?

I felt a glimmer of hope.  If they were estranged, could the birth of grandson Jesus have helped to heal the rift?  We know that at least by the time Jesus was twelve that He and the Holy Family were surrounded by extended family (Luke 2:44).   Even if they didn’t fully believe He was the promised Messiah, somewhere along the line forgiveness and reconciliation had to have occurred.

Jesus' conception and birth may have caused a rift in his earthly family. I don't really know.  But I am comforted that if there was an estrangement, that it seems to have been temporary.  Maybe “on earth, peace to men on whom his favor rests” included Jesus’ own family.  

Judge for yourselves

It was a wonderful time.  

My family, all 17 of us, were able to be together this Thanksgiving at a rented house on Kentucky's Lake Cumberland.  All nine grandsons (That's right.  NINE grandsons, ZERO granddaughters) played together well.  This is no small feat as five of them are aged 3 and under.  

My brother-in-law, the amazing Mike, made all of the Thanksgiving dinner and dessert with the exception of my sister-in-law Vivien's delicious cheesecake.  Love those guys who do the culinary school thing!  He was even incredibly successful making tur-duck-en despite the fact of not having any butcher's string to hold it all together.  I'd never had tur-duck-en before.  Chicken wrapped in duck wrapped in turkey with stuffing in there all over the place.  FABULOUS!  Highly recommended.


Friday morning Vivien, assisted by Clinton and Mike, made a huge breakfast.  Viv also made spaghetti for Wednesday night and a wonderful chicken casserole on Friday night, using up the leftovers.  Somehow all three of us McClelland kids managed to find spouses who enjoy cooking.  We're still trying to find the down side to that one...   Lorie, Bill and I are definitely loving it.  Mom and I have gladly volunteered for permanent clean-up detail.


And, yes, I have the results of my Fit By Forty challenge to myself.  Vivien, a former model, assisted me in my "pose" while photographer Clinton added a few "Work it, baby, work it"s in his best LA accent.  


So, thanks to Joline and Weight Watchers, I came to Thanksgiving in my khakis.  The khakis even stayed on my body for the entire evening.  Mission Accomplished!  Whoo-hoo!  Jumping Jacks for Joy!



On Monday I'm officially back on the treadmill.  3 great cooks x 3 full days x a plethora of amazing food = the need to burn some major calories before they take up permanent residence again. 


Weight Watchers was incredibly helpful in meal planning, and having a milestone birthday as a deadline was a major motivation, but the most important factor in my success has been the accountability my friend Joline.  I would probably have skipped several (okay, many) workouts had I not loathed the thought of emailing her my failure report.  I hope our mutual accountability society continues.  You up for it, Jo? 


Now if I can continue with these changes, I may be able to stay in my khakis for the foreseeable future.  And who knows, I may get to wear them to our next Thanksgiving celebration.    :)

Fit By Forty x Seven

It's been one week since I began my "Fit By Forty" quest to lose the weight I've put on in order to fit into my khakis by Thanksgiving/my 40th birthday.  Several factors have been in play over this time period.

Thanks to my friend Joline, talented author of the CuppaJo blog and completer of a half-marathon, I am for the first time ever working out with a buddy.  Um.  Well.  Sort of.  Joline lives 9 hours away from me in Pennsylvania.  That's 550 miles according to Mapquest.  She contacted me after my last post and we became accountability partners, encouraging each other in our workouts via email.  I've always been a loner in this area, but I must say it is working GREAT for me!  You'll have to check out Joline's blog to see how it's working for her.   http://thecuppajo.blogspot.com/2009/11/buddy-system.html

Another factor is I've been cooking for 3 hungry farmers this week.  When I take them lunch I also take Nathan with me and feed him while the guys eat.  I can't feed him and myself at the same time so I usually eat before I go.  Lately it's been something meal-replacement-bar-ish.  Makes it much easier to plan Weight Watcher points that way and I'm too busy right now to think much about sneaking food later.  Protein water and coffee are helping to curb my appetite, so for this week at least I'm able to really watch what I eat. 



Haven't tried on the khakis but the scale is showing me some encouraging numbers.  The true test, other than the khakis, will be what the scale at the doctor's office says.  My annual physical exam is scheduled later this week.  Believe me, I'm not excited, but it must be done.  We'll see how much The Dreaded Doctor's Office Scale affects my mood and thus my commitment to my program.


Good thing Joline's got Jillian Michaels kicking her butt these days.  Actually, I think Jillian is shredding her butt...either way, I'm sure she'll pass that butt-kicking along to me and project me right out of my slump.  Hurray for buddies!

Fit By Forty

It took a while, but it has happened.

In general I am pretty good about watching what I eat.  Lately though I've been watching what I eat go in my mouth, down to my lower half and expanding.  Two weeks ago when I was running late for church I went to put on my favorite khakis and I could not get them on.  

I was HACKED.  At myself.  I knew I'd been really careless and have noticed my pants getting tighter, but this was the first time this fall I'd tried to wear these particular pants.  Apparently I hit the breaking point.  

For those of you who know me, just stop with the "Wah wah wah you're so little you don't have anything to worry about blah blah blah."  Here is the thing:  It doesn't matter what size you are.  If you gain enough weight that you don't fit your clothes,  you have a problem.  And while I do have some yoga pants, I do not want to have to wear them all the time.


I rather like my wardrobe.  It has taken me several years and a substantial investment to build it to this point.  I FLAT OUT REFUSE to let myself go to the point that I have to start over from scratch.  I busted my tail (literally) to get back into my clothes after Nathan was born.  Gaining a few pounds is one thing.  Not fitting your clothes is quite another.


As an added bonus, I will turn the big 4-0 on November 25, the day before Thanksgiving.  

I refuse to feel "fat and forty."  I refuse to have my clothing options limited by my own poor choices and lack of will power.  I refuse to buy another wardrobe.  I refuse to loathe seeing myself in a mirror.  I refuse to be unhealthy.  I refuse to allow the Enemy to have any little niche to poke his nose in and cause me trouble.  I refuse.  I refuse.  I REFUSE!!!


I have just under three weeks to get my rear in gear to meet my goal and fit into my khakis.  This is an attainable goal.  I am working my plan.


And as I know that at the age of forty it gets REALLY hard to keep weight off, I intend to continue to make changes in my lifestyle.  For a while now I have been slowly making small improvements in our eating habits and will continue to do so.  

The biggest obstacle is making exercise a priority.  But, even fifteen minutes a day can help.  As Flylady says, "You can do anything for fifteen minutes."  The near-miraculous transformation of my previously cluttered basement is proof of that.


I intend to have a little less "junk in my trunk" in three weeks.  I intend to wear my khakis to Thanksgiving dinner.



Oh, and uh, I intend to ask you to please pray for me.

The Murky World of My Thought Process

Yesterday I completed the household chore I like the least -- vacuuming, sweeping and mopping the floors.  I would rather do just about anything else, including go to the dentist, than clean floors.  

I got to wondering as I cleaned...I have heard that there are trees and grass in Heaven.  I love trees and grass.  But as trees and grass grow in dirt, does that mean there is also dirt in Heaven?  When I go inside my "mansion in glory" am I going to take dirt in with me?  Am I going to have to clean floors in Heaven?  FOR ETERNITY?  

I mean,  I think we will have jobs in Heaven, but it will be something we LIKE to do, right?  I'll get to socialize and make everyone laugh, right?  There will be other tasks God would have me do that I'm perfect for, right?  I won't have to spend eternity cleaning floors...right?  Right?  Someone please tell me I'm right...

Okay.  Wig-out time is over.  I'm okay.  If God wants me to clean floors,  I guess I'll enjoy it, right?  

Right?  :)

 

2 things

This will be quick, as I only have a moment before laundry/Nathan/farming/lunch chaos begins:

I have wondered for a looooonnnnngggg time about the words at the end of some of the blogs I follow.  They are like little guidance words for your posts, like if I write about kayaking, at the bottom it would say "kayaking" and then anyone could click on that to find what else I've written about kayaking.

Finally figured it out (it's good to ASK for help) and updated my past blogs with this Labels feature.  I know.  Sometimes I amaze even myself with my sheer lack of tech savvy.  It may slow me down, but it's not stopping me!

Secondly, and completely unrelated in any way, I am now okay with giving away my maternity clothes and Nathan's baby clothes.  What is it about telling others of your concerns and troubles that frees you from them?  I am learning more and more about the power of the spoken word every day.  Hope to post more on that at a later date...

Be blessed today!  :)

Holding On

Flylady.net has been, and continues to be, a huge help to me.  This wonderful lady and her team are revolutionizing my life by helping me declutter and organize.  My basement looks better than it has since we moved into this house 9 years ago, and my cabinets and closets, papers and piles, are slowly but surely coming into line.  Babysteps rule!

I have pitched and/or given away literally dozens of large trash bags full of stuff.  If I don't use it, need it or love it, it's gone.  Outta here.  Later, gator.  Several local organizations are benefiting from this process, and I am overjoyed to bless others with these items. 


However, there are a few things I am struggling with getting rid of.   I'm having a real hard time parting with my maternity clothes.  And Nathan's baby clothes.  I know for certain that neither of us will use them again, but I can't bring myself to let them go. I've happily loaned them out to others, but there's just something about the permanence of giving them away that so far has made me hesitate.


I do know that I will get there, that one day (hopefully) soon I WILL HAVE HAD IT and I will quickly grab them and take them to our local crisis pregnancy center...just not yet. 

I'm saddened that this seems so difficult for me.  I understand about emotional attachement and what not and I know I will be okay with it eventually, but it makes me wonder...


What other things in my life do not work for me, do I no longer need, and do I not love, that I still stubbornly refuse to throw away?  What habits, attitudes, agreements am I harboring like fugitives in the basement of my spirit?  


Who'd a thunk that decluttering the basement would have such an impact on the clutter in my soul?