Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is just a couple days away and J and I head out to visit the family in Florida before sunrise tomorrow! Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday for so many reasons other than our excellent meal. My family does thanksgiving really really well. I am not just being biased. They used to host the most extravagant Thanksgiving dinners at the Inn and invited what seemed to be hundreds of people when I was little....probably on average 40-50 plus the 100 children. I guess these years of so many food contributions and experiments evolved into the most perfect assembly of sides and turkey for our annual feast. Another reason our Thanksgivings were just so wonderful is because we love Jesus and we are so incredibly thankful for His gift, provision, and love and this spirit shines through us all during this time...or maybe it's the constant flow of mimosas...either way! 

So aside from our wonderful feast and family, these are some of the reasons Thanksgiving is just my absolute favorite! 

One: After 10 1/5 months of anticipation, Thanksgiving morning, the oh so longed for moment...my dad turns on our beloved Handle's Messiah. When I think about Christmas, I think about the messiah. Those familiar 7-10 notes that open the Sinfonia give me chills down my spine. Saving the messiah for Thanksgiving morning and through Christmas preserves how beautiful it is. It is never overplayed and the meaning is that much more prominent. It is my favorite holiday tradition. 

Two: Baking. One things that my parents did so well was invite their children to join in the excitement and responsibility of preparing for Thanksgiving dinner. Since we were little, we have all partaken and contributed to our dinners. There in nothing more exciting for a child than the praise you receive from your well done contribution. Thanksgiving morning is just a sweet time of coffee, messiah, and baking with my mom and sisters before my dad takes over the kitchen domain. In addition to this baking...after Thanksgiving we get to make Christmas cookies and the same wonderful mornings with my mom, sisters and christmas music (usually by this time we have expanded past just the messiah) carry on. 

Three: Decorating. We have always done nature inspired table decorations. We used to scavenge for berries, leaves, pine cones, and whatever else we could find to decorate alongside of candles and beautiful place settings. This was always so fun and an adventure. One time, on Thanksgiving morning in Rome, GA, my sister and I go to take some berries from the landscaping of a local shopping mall. Feeling like we were committing some awful crime we were trying to be discrete and we actually got pulled over on the way home because a couple cops saw us suspiciously sneaking around in the bushes. I don't think there was ever anything more awkward and embarrassing than trying to convince that cop that we were just getting table decorations for dinner...at least we had the berries to prove it. So decorating has always been very fun. But in addition to table decorations, my parents save all Christmas decorating until after Thanksgiving. It gets harder and harder to wait the older I get because the "holiday" season in society begins November 1st it seems and it is just a tease. But it is just so exciting to come home from Thanksgiving and break out the Christmas gear, hang the wreaths, set up the tree and pull out the most precious little handmade nativity. Our house has never been very over the top with the decorations. A lot of wonderful smelling balsam fir wreaths and maybe a garland on the mantel, a simple charlie brown tree decorated so beautifully, poinsettias and the few favorite treasures. I like it this way. 

From here on we start to get into the Christmas traditions and I will save that for another post. I am really excited this year because it is Js and my very first Thanksgiving and Christmas as a married couple and I am so excited to see our own traditions form. I am slowly bringing J around to the excitement of the holidays. His grinch heart is growing...jk he has never been a grinch, just never cared that much about the holiday festivities since I have known him. That is all changing.

Middle verse of O Holy Night.

Everyone knows the first verse...but see how sweet the second verse is! 

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,

With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand. 

O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming, 

Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land. 

The King of kings lay thus lowly manger; 

In all our trials born to be our friends. 

He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger, 

Behold your King! Before him lowly bend! 

Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

An eventful morning

Today I got to taste the scary side of living in a city. Little small town me had quite the morning. I was woken up by Gunner's ferocious bark and I could tell someone was at the door...usually it is Jehovah's witnesses who are not satisfied with my faith or our town crazy who likes to come and ask for work, money, or food quite often. Therefor I was not in any rush to answer whoever was knocking and took my sweet time getting dressed and making myself look presentable. When I got to the door no one was there so I thought I was in the clear. I closed the door and turned around and saw someone in my back yard on a bike. I was horrified and confused. I opened the door again and ran out into the front yard and noticed it was Js bike and this kid was stealing it. By the time I was outside he was in the street and as I started off to chase him, yelling in my bare feet and jammies, he looked at me and took off. I was horrified, I felt so helpless as he sped away on Js nice bike. I ran back inside and searched for my phone, called J and then went after him in the car on a hopeless attempt to retrieve my bike. By the time I was driving he could have been anywhere, turned down any street, gone to any house so I called it in to the police, looked around for about 20 mins and went home to meet the officer to tell him what happened...some high school boy, he was black, short dark hair, wearing dark clothes and he stole my husbands grey hybrid Trek bike...there couldn't be a more generic description.

For a couple hours I stewed and I couldn't stop thinking about how this kid had the nerve to go into my yard, while I was home with a car in the driveway and take a bike. He probably saw a glimpse of my not so awesome bike from the street, checked to see if anyone was home, my long hesitation to answer the door made him think not, and then when going to take my bike, noticed J's much nicer bike and thought he scored. I have had things stolen from me before, but it has been my own stupidity, misplacing, or carelessness that has resulted in it. This was a complete violation of home and property, trespassing and stealing right in front of me, and completely ignoring me as I ran out to try and stop him.

I decided to go search some more, get myself a latte to make it more enjoyable and look around the area I guessed he would go considering the direction he took off in. A friend of ours had their car stolen right out of their driveway while they were home and found it at an apartment complex in our neighborhood. I didn't know where that was exactly but I had come across some apartments that seemed to fit the description and so I had checked there in my first search for the bike and didn't see anything. Once I got my latte and searched again I decided to do another sweep of the complex and lo and behold, at the furthest back side apartment I see Js bike on the ground next to some stairs with two high school kids sitting up near the top. I stop right in front of the bike and stairs and I get sooooo nervous. I knew the kid who stole it was young and dumb but these apartments are not the safest, or friendliest looking. We know all about high school kids dropping out and joining gangs in this city and so my mind was thinking the worst and I couldn't even get out of the car. I called the city police and attempted to tell them I found the bike and my phone died. I was horrified. I thought I had gotten myself into a really stupid situation. If I leave they will hide the bike again, if I stay and they are mean then I am in trouble. The boy came down and I recognized him immediately and was actually impressed how well he fit my description to the cop. I asked him if he was going to give me back my bike or if I should call the police and have them come over here...totally bluffing with my dead phone. He told me he had no idea what I was talking about and that it wasn't his bike but he told me I could take it if I wanted...how nice...and then he took off. The other guy came down the stairs and he was older, maybe 18 or 19 and I told him I was taking my bike back and he said he had no idea what I was talking about, he is too old to be stealing bikes (probably graduated to cars at that point). I asked what the other kids name was and he wouldn't tell me so I told him if they ever tried a stunt like that again, next time I would't be so nice....I probably scared them to death...little white girl, clearly shaking to the bone, basically in jammies...."shame on you." I couldn't stop giggling while attempting to somehow fit Js huge bike in his tiny car just at the entire ordeal. I couldn't believe I found the bike, I was so excited.

Though this story came to a happy ending, and I feel like a bad ass for taking back the bike, it is actually terrifying to think of someone coming into your property and stealing. I am lucky this was just some punk kid, who hopefully I left an impression and showed he in not so tough or cunning, but we have had far more serious theft, shootings and killings in our neighborhood. This was a lesson to be much more careful with the security of our things, more prepared and alert. We know this is a good neighborhood and we also know the kids and student need love, protection and clear guidance. So many drop out of school and just fall into bad lifestyles, join gangs, and if they continue on that path for too long then things can get worse. I guess we are not in Bath, Maine anymore.