Imagine with me, opening the front door of your parents house, the scent of pine hitting your nostrils while you take in the gorgeous christmas tree with a little angel on top that is overtaking the living room. You hear the crackle and see the flicker of small flames as the fire cast shadows on the little Santa’s village on a nearby table. Shiny ornaments catch your attention as you pass the wreath on the door. You take your scarf and jacket off and go warm yourself by the fire because its snowy and cold outside. You turn to the kitchen and see the ornately decorated table with candles lit, turkey and mashed potatoes out and ready for a feast. Mom pulls a fresh baked pie out of the oven, it smells like heaven! I run to go get a hug once the pie is safely to its resting spot as the front door opens again and my siblings and Dad arrive. They stomp their feet clean of snow, or maybe they don’t. 🙂 They run to come get hugs or tackles and the room breaks into laughter and chatter. I smile knowing that I will forever remember this moment.
I cherish those moments. These are etched in my memory. This is a conglomerate of all the best Christmas’s that I’ve had. I love it when my family gets together and we just have a ball of fun. Time seems to slow down. Our phones are put away and we talk. We laugh. We live in the moment and truly enjoy each others company. Sometimes we just sit and are near each other, but we are all smiling because we are so happy to all be together. Christmas time has always been one of my favorite times of the year. Its easy to just relax and let go, to take a breath and really soak in the moments. These moments have stayed with me and I love it.
As I prepare for this mission trip, I am finding that time is just slipping through my fingers. I have been so busy with the last days of work and moving and packing that I haven’t had time to just soak in the time with my friends here in California. Some amazing things have happened this past month too. My two best friends, Stacey and Kortney singlehandedly, and secretly I might add, organized and executed a massive cookie fundraiser for me. Stacey is an amazing baker and Kortney is an amazing seller, so you can only image my shock when they said they raised over $1600 on my behalf. I didn’t quite know what to say. An immense feeling of gratitude and indebtedness and amazement quickly followed. That moment is etched in my memory. But I feel as though many others are just slipping away.
I guess what I am trying to say is that I am currently having a hard time trying to live in the moment. I want time to stop for a bit and let me soak things in. But instead time is moving at warp speed and all my lasts are quickly approaching. My last day at Disneyland was amazing, my last run to costco was sad, they took my card away. My last day of work is Monday, and it makes me sad but grateful because I love my job. All these last’s don’t really matter though, because what I really want is time. Time with the people that matter to me.
So here we are, my last week in California before I get to spend a fun week with my family before launch. You better believe I am going to spend as much time with people as I can. I am going to make these moments matter. We are going to make lasting memories.Then it will be with trepidation, excitement and maybe a little bit of nervousness that I launch on the World Race. Oh my goodness.
Bring it on!
PS, and also I REALLY hope it snows this year on Christmas!! 🙂 Sorry Lissa!!
PPS. I love my family…. here they are below! 🙂
