my four gems

I got nothing. (aka merry christmas greetings)

I got nothing.  That is the title of this Christmas letter.  How many times can I tell you how awesome my kids are, how wonderful life is, how I relish the crazy, how involved we are in a variety of things, how sports consume our life, how sunny the sun shines in my area, without you starting to wonder, is she for real??? 

 Well I am.  I am real.  Here I am.  And my realness is why you are not getting a Christmas photo/letter in the mail for the second year in a row.  Because, friends, I got nothing.  Nothing to say.  It's hard.   Life that is.

  Not third world country hard.  If that is the barometer, then my life is sunshine and roses every day. Truly.  All of our lives are. 

But in this reality, I got nothing to say.  Things are hard.  And I/we are muddling through. 

I went back to work this year.  That has been hard.  My youngest struggles in school.  That has been hard.  I have an almost teenager.  That can be hard (okay, but secretly I do love it!).  My marriage is hard.  I don't like my dog.  Can you relate?  Anyone? 

So, here I am, real. 

Not sending out my pretty pictures and pretty words, because I really have nothing to say that would sound too pretty.  And that's all I wanted to say. 

Except. 

Jesus. 

 I want to say, thank you, Jesus, for being God yet deciding to come down as a lowly babe in a stinky barn.  For living a life of love and dying for me.  So that even when this life is hard, you have bigger plans for me. 

Because when I have nothing, I still have You.  And that is enough.

Be blessed with the miracle of a baby named Jesus.  Merry Christmas.