My Thoughts on Christmas

I find that it is so easy to get wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season. Have you finished your shopping? When is the Christmas party? Did you remember to move the elf? Have you baked all your Christmas cookies?  This year is our first Christmas being married, which means, adding to the list: whose family will we spend Christmas with? What should I give to my in-laws?  The stress of all of this can often seem paralyzing, not to mention life continuing to go on around us. I find myself hearing every day of tragedy that happens: A friend who believes her teenage daughter is spiraling out of control. Eviction/Foreclosure. A miscarriage. An injury. A divorce. An addiction. A death. Debt.

Truth is, we are all broken somehow, but this time of year is supposed to be so happy!  How can we keep joy in Christmas? I have found myself pondering this point often this December, as my family deals with struggles of its own.  I have boiled it down to these points.

Grace:

Kindness from God that we do not deserve.  Look around, people are suffering from a lot of different things, which causes us to act in ways that are not very pretty. However, for some reason we are still so loved by God. 

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16 (NIV)

There is nowhere else we should turn. His arms are open wide...waiting for us to turn to Him. In the midst of all of this struggle and brokenness his grace is sufficient for all of our needs.

Without the first Christmas, we wouldn’t have the first Easter:

This Christmas holiday is so important in so many ways that seem to get lost in the shuffle.  The baby that came on Christmas is the King who came to change all nations. This tiny baby came to fix the mess. He changes everything! We know that this is not just some crazy folktale, but that this same tiny baby is the same great Savior who died on a cross to redeem.

God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:17 (NLT)

 Relax!:

It will all come together.  It will all be perfect.  Who cares if there aren’t enough cookies? Who cares if the perfect gifts are still not wrapped and under the tree? Who cares if you can’t make it to just one of the 10 Christmas parties you have been invited to? This is supposed to be a season of peace, not chaos (easier said than done, I know).

And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Colossians 3:15 (NLT)

Take a deep breath, and refocus your lens on the true purpose of this season.  Even if life seems to be a complete wreck, enjoy time with people. Make memories. Reflect. Pray. Be thankful.

Our Proposal Story

SOOOO, we're engaged!! I can hardly believe that I am so lucky to be able to say that and be Kevin's fiancé. God has blessed me so much with such a wonderful, godly man.

I would like to take a quick second to say thank you so much for everyone's support, kind words, encouragement, hugs, phone calls, texts, Facebook comments and likes, instagram comments and likes.  Your words mean so much to us and we cannot wait to start our lives as Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Rogers.

Among the congratulations, I have had a million requests to hear: the proposal story and an upclose picture of the ring. I leaked pictures of the ring on instagram yesterday, (if you don't follow me, you should-lix87) but now you have come to the right place to see pictures.

Kevin and I have come a long way from this blog post, if you want to read the story of how we met from mine and his perspective. HOORAY!

The Proposal:

Kevin and his sweet self came to my house after work on Friday after we had been planning to go to Mellow Mushroom for dinner nearly all week. I drove (it was part of the deal because Kevin hates driving in downtown areas) It's part of the package of being with him--before you get the wrong idea, I get carsick, so it works out well. We got out of the car and I started walking toward the restaurant. Bear in mind it was about 12 degrees so I was ready to get inside (who could blame me, right?!). Kevin tapped me and was like, no, let's go this way.  So we walked up the steps into the American Tobacco Campus, the former home of Lucky Strike.  It's a very historic area of Durham and has been renovated to have a river running through the middle of the entire thing.

However, because it is 12 degrees outside the river has been turned off. It's okay though, it is still one of my favorite spots to wander and still very beautiful in the freezing cold.  Many, many things have been celebrated in this area for me, several birthdays, anniversaries, several of mine and Kevin's date nights, graduations, getting a first job, the home of my favorite minor league baseball team (which is right next door), etc.

So, we walked and walked and walked in the frigid temperatures to my favorite spot in Durham.

A part of this precious historic area that is off the beaten path which overlooks the fountain (when it's running) and a train. When the fountain is running it is noisy and it's a place I love to sit and just reflect.  This is also the place I celebrated my 25th birthday, alone, at midnight.

On this day though, Friday, January 24th 2014, it is a place that became even more special to me.  It's a place where Kevin told me how much he loves me, how much he desires to spend his life with me and only me, how much he wants to create a family together, to come home to me every day, for it to be us forever.  He waited a second, we looked around and took in the moment. Then, I cried a little as he got down on one knee and said the four words I've been dreaming of hearing him say..."will you marry me?"  Four simple words that mean so much.  Of course I said yes!  We hugged and kissed and tried to keep each other warm.

He put a beautiful, sparkly, ring on my finger.  One that has 88 diamonds on it.  87 small (to symbolize the year I was born) adding one more (88, to symbolize the year Kevin was born). Yes, he's younger than me :).

This is stock photo, which shows it with the matching wedding band, which will also be mine in a few months:

I couldn't be more happy.  We are and were completely elated to share this moment with our family. As we waited for a table at Mellow Mushroom (one of our favorite restaurants) we took turns calling loved ones and hugging and kissing as our hands were turning into icicles. I couldn't call my dad, because he was working so we had to wait for that.  He knew though, because my sweet, precious, patient, brave man sat down and asked for my dad's blessing earlier that week. On this night we took time spent together, prayed together, thanked God for our life together, ate delicious food, held hands a lot, looked at my ring a lot, laughed til our bellies hurt, shared the news with our waitress, family, and close friends, hugged and kissed a lot, and just enjoyed the night.

And that my friends, is the second beginning of our love story =) We have so much life ahead of us and hope to fill it with nothing but love. We thank you so much for sharing in our excitement and for being so wonderful.  We love you all.

Love,

Kevin and Lora

(The Soon To Be Mr. and Mrs. Rogers)