We got spirit, yah, yah, we got spirit!

I'm happy to report that the Christmas Spirit is alive and well in the David house.  After my bahumbug post last week I wasn't sure if it would ever arrive, but alas, it has!  And despite having two sick chickens at home, we have had a very fun and productive week that really made it feel like Christmas time.  We spent last weekend celebrating with family and friends, I finished all my shopping, made my LAST Target run for 2011 and FINALLY decorated my Christmas Tree - woohoo! All that's left is the fun stuff - wrapping gifts with the hubs, making cookies for Santa with Jack, going to church to celebrate Jesus' birthday, Christmas morning mania and of course spending lots of time with my family. 

I truly believe that God sent me two moments that brought the spirit into my heart.  The first was last week when I was taking the boys to San Diego to see their cousins Marseille and Amelie. As I was cruising along the freeway to Jewel's angelic voice singing O Holy Night, I caught a glimpse of the sun bouncing off the Pacific as I passed through Oceanside.  Our mighty marines were running drills along the beach and the waves were crashing on the shore.  My babies were sleeping peacefully in the back seat and all was calm.  It was a moment of pure peace I had been needing.  And I thought, how blessed I am to live in this beautiful country, near my family and friends, at this amazing time of year. And how blessed we are to all have each other and to have our health.  God was definitely showing me how good my life really is.

The second instance was when I watched the CNN Heroes Special, where they honor unbelievable human beings who help those less fortunate.  In a society where we tend to obsess over celebrities, it was nice to see truly amazing citizens being recognized for their efforts to help others, when they themselves have so little. I bawled my eyes out for two hours.  And it just made me feel so lucky to have the life that I do when so many people today are struggling.  It reminded me that I need to start appreciating all that I have and not to complain about what I don't have. Donating time and money to charities really makes that more clear to me and it's something I am passionate about.  I believe that God sparked that charitable fire in me again.

So Christian and I decided that I lieu of gifts for each other, we would each donate to a charity in each others name.  It's a small way we can give back and hopefully start a tradition for the future.  He doesn't know who I donated to so I will have to tell you later.  I will tell you it is one of the charities from the CNN special.  Here's the website with all of the various stories - it's definitely worth a look.  I believe these people are what the holiday spirit is all about.

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/index.html

I hope you all have a blessed, happy, joyous and peaceful Christmas!