Signs of Winter...

Looking out our kitchen window I see signs of winter. Central Indiana has had two mornings of thick frost on our windows and ground. The soybean and corn fields are now bare...but still beautiful. As a child, I loved to wander our farm fields just after harvest. Often we picked up ears of corn that the harvester missed. We would clean all the kernels off the cobs to help feed our animals. In the wintertime, I would iceskate on the ice left in the rows where the corn had once stood. In the late fall or winter, I would gather dried weeds to arrange and decorate our home.

I'm looking forward to wandering in the woods behind our house...now almost completely bare of their leaves. It seems all new to me now that the trees look different.

Winter makes some people sad...but not me. True, I hate filling up my gas tank when its so cold that your nose freezes. I really hate driving (or having my loved ones drive) in bad weather, but I truly love playing in the snow with the kids. I have always loved building snow men, snow forts and writing "I love you!" in the traces of snow on my husband's car. The approaching holiday season makes me happy! I love buying people presents, wrapping them beautifully and having them appear under the tree!

When my children were younger, we had HUGE stockings that "Santa" filled. That way, there was a limit on what "he" could bring. He brought toys that would fit in the stockings, dolls, stuffed animals, legos, etc. We are not sure how we are going to handle "Santa" with any adopted child. Our true focus has always been on Jesus and the last few years even more so.
We have more Nativity scenes than we know what to do with!

How have YOU handled Christmas... with or without Santa? Roger didn't have "Santa" come when his children were younger...in my home, we did. We are not arguing about this, I think either way would be fine. In this and in all things, we want to do the right thing in the eyes of God!

Blessings,
Beth