And into the mess of humanity, in the middle of the darkness, in the middle of my darkness, Jesus the light of the world has arrived. He is the Savior of all mankind. Glory to God in the highest indeed.

The candles have been used and re-used for years for several years because we are inconsistent Advent candle lighters and because we care little about perfection when it comes to Christmas decor. Our stockings don’t match. Our tree is filled with ornaments from friends and family and isn’t magazine-worthy (and I adore it!). And our Advent wreath candles are quite wonky this year. We’re all quite wonky this year.

Gray day with snow in the forecast. I dodged freezing raindrops and masked peoples to run into the store for a few important items. Let it snow.

It’s nice to get in the frame sometimes, right?

Here I am, posing just after I finished my coffee and reading time. Working my way through a cute and easy-to-read story about a group of quilters and through Huckleberry Finn with Liv (and while I’m at it, could Mark Twain squeeze more words in there? I think not!). Automatic timer all set up. I used a globe as a stand-in for my head to get the focus right.

And then my knee connected with the bench I’m on in the most unfortunate of ways. Look, I have a decently high pain tolerance, so I’m still confused as to what special situation happened. But I whacked my knee on the bench and thought I was going to pass out. It was nuts! I was sure I was headed for surgery for decapitating my kneecap! Jeremy came to my rescue. Liv asked after me quickly. And lo and behold, I don’t even have a bruise to show for it. Just a lump. And I can still walk. No surgery needed. But oh my goodness, it was really exciting for a little while. Want to see the pic? SO MUCH DRAMA.

Did you know that Culinary Arts students must learn how to keep their work and storage spaces tidy? That they also must learn when a pantry or refrigerator item is expired, how to properly dispose of said item, and then how to re-order ingredients needed for future recipes?

Last night after Jeremy composted the dying veggies from our refrigerator, he left out the crisper drawer and as he moved on quickly to the next task suggested someone wipe out the bottom of the frig. Our Culinary Arts student handled the job quite easily this morning.

I opened the Amazon package to find… tape.

It was the weirdest juxtaposition of things and it made me laugh. That and a pile of laundry will suffice for today’s DPP.

The first pic above keeps with my personal DPP challenge this year, and the second represents the work of a husband to love his wife well.

A countdown has taken place on our little kitchen chalkboard. In the seven days leading up to my birthday Jeremy has celebrated in that small space, reminding me each day that I was on his mind. We’ve come a long way, this man and me, and he has done a stellar job being the Chief Celebrator this week. If you know anything about enneagram, then you can guess that I’m the tradition-and-celebration person around here as an enneagram 2. It’s totally in my wheelhouse to try to make someone feel special. Jeremy’s wheelhouse is more in the genius department—not in the IQ sense, though that may be true too, but in the detail sense. I’m watching my Favorite Web Developer (and enneagram 5) make sure that I have the gifts that I’d really like, the food that I’d really like, the drinks that I’d really like, the proper cheer that I’d really like, and he’s even motivated our child to join him in a decent understanding of birthday customs—and it has cost him. It’s not his scene but he does it because it brings me joy.

I love him.

Twenty-four years ago I spent my birthday with a guy I had just started dating. I couldn’t even recognize how smitten I was until he laid his feelings out on the table, and then I fell in love hard. Right now he’s picking up takeout for my birthday supper. I’m so grateful for this long vision of marriage, the one where we are bound together in Christ. We couldn’t have made it to this point without a whole lot of grace from the Lord, and He has been faithful to us. Each year we become more and more aware of his goodness.

PS. In the background you can see a new suitcase. It’s a fantastic gift that should have the word “hope” written across it in bold letters, for it broadcasts hope to me with its very existence. I’m here, homebound, at the end of 2020, but soon I’ll travel again with this guy!

My birthday request: a slice of apricot torte from The Green Gateau. (I believe the restaurant orders it from a Lithuanian bakery in Omaha.) This dessert makes me happy. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for the really wonderful birthday celebration! It felt especially sweet in the middle of Covid.