It's OK to have a simple Christmas

As you know, I have been having problems with my heart and fibromyalgia. My blood pressure is barely controlled and I am constantly tired.

We have decided to cancel Christmas this year. I haven't even put up a wreath on the front door, let alone, a Christmas tree.

We are staying home and nobody is coming. Contrary to how I would feel in years past, this year's plan gives me peace.

We plan to play games online with my sister and son. There's nothing like a game of online Scrabble with familiar people who are well matched in scores.

None of us is able to attend church these days but that doesn't stop us from worshiping God and remembering Jesus on the day we choose to celebrate as His birthday.

Next week I will be ordering my Christmas food and I will be buying a ham and organic salad vegetables for Chris's and my lunch. I will also be buying some grape juice and matzo crackers, as we plan to take Communion online with my sister and son like we did last Easter.

It is not an ideal Christmas, but with all of us feeling unwell, it is making the best of a bad situation.

We all feel that as long as we remember that God sent His Son Jesus to bear the sins of the world and be our Saviour, then that is what Christmas really is.

Besides, the first Christmas was extremely unpretentious and simple. It's OK if ours is too...

Home is the new church

So today is Resurrection Sunday when Jesus rose from the dead. It is a joyful day in the Christian calendar and one I look forward to each year.

I am so grateful that Jesus saved me from my sins and that when I die, I will be with Him for eternity. That is a wonderful promise to hang onto in these uncertain times.

This year will see many of us viewing online Easter services and I will be doing that later, but today I will be taking Communion with my sister and one of my sons online. We will be FaceTiming.

We did this last week and it was very fulfilling. What better way of celebrating Resurrection Sunday than by worshiping and remembering Jesus Christ's sacrifice for us all?

I have some homemaking chores to do:

1. Make pumpkin soup
2. Fold a load of washing and put it away
3. Clean my kitchen

I will get to this hopefully after Communion today. I will be taking it under our picture of the Last Supper where Christ introduced Communion as a way for Christians to remember His sacrifice. 

It's quite pleasant to be home doing it: like other things we have to accept for the time being: home is the new church! 

And so Easter is upon us!

Today is Maundy Thursday, the eve of the Crucifixion of Christ. Usually I attend a Maundy Thursday service commemorating Christ washing the feet of His disciples and introducing the first Communion.

Of course with church services being banned, I won't be attending this year, but I will be focussing on Christ and His atoning sacrifice. 

I usually have a quiet time of a morning where I worship God and give thanks for His salvation. Not even Rona can stop that.  I will probably watch church services live streamed throughout Easter as well.

Today I have a few things on my to do list:

1. Go to the chemist and pick up our scripts that were ordered yesterday
2. Clean my kitchen
3. Go to the post office to pick up something I bought on ebay
4. Cook lamb steaks, mashed potatoes and salad for dinner

Obviously not a lot to do, but as much as my spoons will allow today. 

Our first guests

As you know, we had guests yesterday and today. They were the first to use our guest room and they confirmed that the new bed and mattress were very comfortable.

We ended up going out for dinner at the town pub, and we had a very nice time with lovely food as well. After the meal, we came home and had a game of UNO and retired around ten o'clock. Which was late enough for me, as I suffer from chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. 

When I woke up this morning, I found that the cat had vomited on our bed, and I had to wash our doona and get it dry in time for bedtime tonight.

My pain was at a high level today so I didn't feel well enough for church. Besides, it gave me more time to be with our guests who were loving our new home.

Today I didn't follow any lists. I did the washing and meals and I plan to have an early night. But tired as I am, I still am glad that I was able to practise hospitality. I sure enjoyed having our first guests! 

We must make memories

There's widespread flooding everywhere today.  One of the roads is impassable still. Fortunately, we are staying home today as we have guests coming this afternoon.

With all the thunder and weather changes, it is playing havoc with my fibromyalgia flare. I am in considerable pain today and I long for a nana nap already: it's only 1pm!

So far I have done a load of washing and am using the dryer. We have had breakfast. Xena has been fed. I will soon be making a ham and cheese toasted sandwich for our lunch. We will be having a big meal for tea tonight.

I am following Saturdays' List as I plan to go to church tomorrow. 

Still on my to do list is:

1. Lunch
2. Change over the washed clothes and put in dryer
3. Cook the defrosting chicken for our roast dinner

I am really looking forward to having my guests come, but I am forcing myself not to go back to bed.

The struggle is real. But I feel if I don't practice hospitality and have people come see us, that my life will be the poorer for it. 

So today, I am taking some paracetamol tablets with my toasted sandwich, and pretending I am having a good day. It's all part of making memories...

Like a beetle on its' back

Today I have woken up tired. Fibromyalgia and angina are vying with back pain to see which is going to be the one to send me back to bed.

So far I have taken my medications, made some toast and tea for our breakfast and thrown some fruit bread out to our delightful birds.

I was planning on following Mondays' List but instead I will be following Thursdays which is a day of rest. God willing, I will be able to do Monday's List tomorrow..

I have a pre cooked slow cooker meal in the freezer for dinner tonight. So no need to cook. I don't like using frozen dinners, but I learned years ago to accept what is and not be a perfectionist...

We are experiencing thunder and rain and I am wondering if that is what is causing my renewed fibro flare, or if it was making the effort to go to church yesterday. Whatever it is, one thing is for sure: today I am as weak as a kitten and as helpless as a beetle on its' back! 

Blessed day today!

When we started our new chapter of life by stopping living in our fifth wheeler and renting again, we had to start off  again just like newlyweds.  We had either sold or given away our furniture and most of our extraneous possessions. We had nothing to move into the house.

Eventually we managed to get new furniture and Chris gave me carte blanche to pick out the furniture and decor. It was fun and we have mostly got all we want.  However, the house still needs some pictures etc and is a work in progress.

One of my favourite areas is our diningroom/passageway display of family photos. We have Arkiane's Prince of Peace front and centre with our wedding photos and our children's wedding photos. Directly under Him is my 7 branch menorrah, a gift to me from Chris to acknowledge my Jewish heritage and because Christianity is based on Judaism, and of course, Jesus was a Jew. I see it and it reminds me to pray for Israel.

Today is Sunday and I am talking to you and preparing to go to Church. We have a little church within walking distance. It is alongside the little Catholic church. This church I go to is a Co-operative church which caters for 3 different denominations. This morning we will be taking Communion with an Anglican minister presiding. Last time it was with a Church of Christ pastor. 

I truly am comfortable in any church that proclaims Jesus Is LORD! I feel that's how it should be! 

So today, I am following Sunday's List.  I will be making chicken chow mein for dinner. No extra chores are needed. It's a day of rest. I hope you are well enough to go to church today: if not, I pray you will still  have a blessed day today!