Christmas blessings

Wishing you and all your loved ones a Christmas filled with joy and love.

I was woken up this morning just after 5 by the most wonderful sound of thunder -followed shortly by the sound of the house alarm going off. The promise of rain in a drought is amazing. We had a good few drops following but not the big storm that the thunder promised. The sun is shining again - promising another scorcher of a day in stead of the coolness the early morning weather hinted at.

It pretty much summarize this holiday for us. What was planned for this holiday did not happen. In stead of spending Christmas at the seaside with grandparents and cousins, we are spending it at home without Hunter. He is where he is needed most and the moment - it was clearly one of our best decisions. Our Oupa is sick - very sick and for now it's first things first - which means that dad is spending it with Oupa and Ouma in Port Elizabeth and we are spending it today with our other Ouma - my mom.

But God is amazing - angels are sent on our path all the time to help us over the sadness and disappointment of this holiday. On Monday afternoon during a storm cables in our area were blown off by falling branches in a huge wind storm. This resulted in a 54 hour electricity failure that nearly broke me. Dealing with moving a deep freeze of frozen meat, upset children, not being able to cook as you would normally do and defrosting fridges and freezers in a heat wave of 39 degrees for both the days the power was out all on my own was a challenge. But we had angels sent to us - a good friend that made space in her freezers to house all our meat before any damage was done and an offer for the boys to play and swim the afternoon with her kids - giving me time to do some shopping needed A's BFF parents that housed her for 2 days and night and offered showers, meals and more and my cousin that decided that a sleepover for us all at her place was a great idea. And it was - it was the break we needed to get away from the masses of work waiting at home and take aways or restaurant meals and to just relax for an evening, have a good solid home cooked meal and the best of all - a sleep in for me the next morning.

Christmas eve last night was truly a blessing. When A's BFF's parents heard of the changes of plans they invited us over to spend the night with their extended family. If was such a social and great occasion that brought much much joy to us all - especially the kids that loved the relaxed madness of 11 children between ages 2 and 18 , a 7 week old puppy , gifts, treats and way too much sugar. I am extremely thankful for this evening of joy and hope.

This morning after church I am cooking a Christmas meal at my moms for just us and one family member. I will make it a joyful and happy occasion.

Wishing you all a wonderful day with plenty of joy and hope.