Sissy, no Bud...Monica, no Chandler...

Here we are, year three of Christmas decorating...Joseph is still MIA. When we unpacked our Christmas tubs after moving to our new home, the boys and I went on a man hunt. We had not touched this Christmas gear since that last December in Skiatook. Why was he gone? Ironically, we had been asking ourselves this since April when we lost our main man. Now Mary is without, and life continues to be severely unfair.
Strange things happen after loss. You feel like they are all happening in slow motion. I remember asking the boys to help me look, as Mary just could not go on with just the camel, all 3 wise men, the cow, the sheep, and no Joseph. She already had that whole virgin thing hanging over her head, and so many haters not seeing the big picture. We looked in every dern plastic tub...even what I would have considered the 'junk drawer' of all tubs that had become my catch all when we made the move. Shane had even repaired the angel's wing the year before...the slight overage of glue still showing. She made it in the designated Nativity tub.

But, no Joe!! Did Shane hide him? Will I see Joseph again this side of  Heaven? Will I find him like I do other hilarious Shane objects around the house? An empty can of chew in his bedside table drawer (ew, but I'm leaving it right there). Guitar picks. His own tub of shoes that I can't get rid of. His overalls in my closet. The doodles on my recipe cards from when he helped me cook Thanksgiving dinner several years in a row.

I recently decided that I was going to try and stop the spiraling thoughts that happen to me almost daily. I have asked the Lord to rebuke, remove, relieve, and denounce all of these irrational flashes from my very loud mind. This tends to happen about 2 or 3 a.m. If I listed all of my worries anywhere but in my own journal, I would likely be committed. Maybe we all would? I recently read John Green's new book. Much like every book I seem to choose for pleasure, there are not one but two characters who have lost a parent. The young girl's father passed suddenly, her widowed mother is a teacher at her school (insert eye roll, head shake, or sweet warm fuzzy, you choose). This young lady has obsessive thoughts. He is such a genius writer. He quotes the greats at just the right times in a novel.

'In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.' - Robert Frost

Unwrapping the Nativity adoring help from little Schoolcraft and Anna Sok.

I am slowly coming to grips with this. It does go on. It might be without Joseph, but it's not without Jesus. Wyatt loves to unpack baby Jesus. One year, he had been in a slight bit of trouble and I saw him talking with baby Jesus at the Nativity about it. Precious! If we all could do the same. I find myself seeking His face more often than not. I need to see you in my life. I need a sign. A tangible reminder that there is more than worry here on Earth. I ask forgiveness for my selfish anxiety, but now realize that my body has had a real reaction to it's current situation. My children are in the same boat. One more than the others. It is heart wrenching as a parent to not be able to fix it. You want nothing more to help them turn off their thoughts for just even a moment. Anxiety is a real demon and if you suffer, you are by no means alone. 

So, as the season of hurry is now here. I vow to slow down my mind and body and enjoy my precious Nativity that was carefully chosen for Shane and I by a glorious couple in our church. It was a wedding gift in June of 2000 that has never meant more to me than it does now.