Good morning! This is Odie! Before I launch into my Saturday post I want to update you on my Papaw Danny Morgan. He came through open heart surgery fine. The doctor said he did four bypasses and that the surgery could not have went any better. He said his heart and arteries look very healthy and that my Papaw should feel 10 years younger in a few weeks. Of course the first few days after open heart surgery are still very challenging but we are so glad to report he is doing well at this point. He sat up several hours this morning. Thank you for praying and thank God for helping.
Christmas Memories Past - 1999
1999 was a year of change for us. We moved to Wichita, Kansas in that year when Dad became the Pastor of New Horizon Holiness Church. We lived in Kansas until January 2003 so we were there at Christmas time for four years. Although we usually went home right before or after Christmas I really missed being home with the family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. But we do have some incredibly happy memories from the Christmas seasons spent in Kansas from 1999-2002.
We spent Christmas Eve 1999 eating pizza and listening to Christmas music. We decided to attend the 11:00 PM Central Christian candlelight Christmas Eve service. Central Christian was a large church and we did not know a soul there. We slipped in and enjoyed the music and service. It was a fun way to end our evening and we still laugh over a few memories from that cold winter night.
We arrived home after the late Christmas Eve service and it was very late when we finally went to bed. I had my alarm set for 7:15 AM. As a 14 year old girl I was excited for Christmas morning. I had several gifts under the tree that I was anxious to open. Several of our family members had sent packages from home. With those packages it seemed to me we had a piece of the family there with us. Christmas morning could not come quick enough. Mom and Dad were always teasing me about oversleeping and missing Christmas but that was not about to happen.
Well my alarm went off at "7:15" just like I had set it to do. I woke up every morning at 7:00 AM for school and in December it was very dark at 7:00 AM. When I woke up Christmas morning at "7:15" There was bright sunshine streaming in my windows. I remember thinking, what is going on here? As I walked through our living room to wake up my parents I quickly realized the correct time was 9:15!
Now, for the rest of the story. After I went to sleep on Christmas Eve my parents changed my clock. They wanted to trick me and sleep a little longer in the process so they set my clock back TWO hours. I was not thrilled with them at all but we had a good laugh about it and had a great Christmas morning anyway. Now days I am all for sleeping late on Christmas morning or any morning for that matter!
We went on to have wonderful family day. I remember several nice gifts from that year. I am still thankful for the clothes, desk chair, clock radio, and computer game to name a few things.
One little gift mom did not know if would like was a 4 Square ball. It turned out to be one of the best gifts of the year! We had so much fun with that ball. Most of our afternoon Christmas Day was spent bouncing the ball back and forth. We are an easily entertained family. All it took that year was a cheap grocery store gift.
That day taught me to cherish family time and to enjoy the small things. I also learned to hold on to memories because they last a lifetime.
Have a great weekend and enjoy the small things during this busy season.
Odie
