I love Santa and other musings...

Today, I loaded the boys up in the car and drove to a local commercial retail center in town so I could rev up with some Starbucks and then take the boys for a walk in the stroller. It was a gorgeous morning, sunny and cool--perfect for a stroll. I confess that I love this time of year, when the store windows are transformed into mini holiday wonderlands. Hopeful that I'd get to see some good holiday window dressings, I strolled the boys by Kirkland's Home, and I was not disappointed. In one of their windows, there were several gorgeous framed paintings of Saint Nick--one was a regal Santa dressed in a majestic golden cloak, another depicted him with a couple of his reindeer, but the one I loved best was a rendering of Santa holding his finger up to his lips, as if to say, "Shhh! It's our little secret." I'm not sure why I loved it so much, but a wave of nostalgia washed over me, and I started to sing Christmas carols to myself.

Artwork found on Kirkland's Website

As I moseyed on, I couldn't help but think about a most strange (to me) phenomenon the exists in the Christian sub-culture: there are some who think it is wrong to incorporate Santa into one's family's Christmas celebration. Some say that it is lying to your children. Others say that it takes the focus off of Jesus, who is, after all, the Reason for the Season. And you know? I respect their decision to celebrate Christmas sans Santa, even though I don't share their view.

My family? Santa comes to our house every year!

I grew up in a family who celebrated Christmas with presents, a fresh cut tree, and yes, Santa Claus. Was I sad when I grew up and found out? Absolutely. Do I wish my parents hadn't "lied" to me? Absolutely NOT! I never felt lied to, and it made my childhood sparkle with magic. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

I think the reason the painting of the Santa saying "Shhh!" so resonated with me is because it felt like he was saying, "We're totally getting away with something here...and it's good!" That's right! Me and Saint Nicholas?... We both believe in Jesus, and we both love to celebrate His birth in grand style!

I'm so excited to share the upcoming Christmas season with my boys!

Sammy and Nana both had a Very Merry Christmas!

Actually, we all did, but this photo was just too cute not to post it!

We had a wonderful Christmas! My family was all together, and I felt such a great sense of contentment in our togetherness. Sam is a total joy, and having a 20 month old to celebrate Christmas with made it all the merrier!

Love to you all as you celebrate the rest of the Christmas holidays with your loved ones!

Brian wrote ...

...a beautiful post on our adoption blog!

Go read it, now! :)

'Tis the Season for Cookies and Icing, Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la!

For a fun and easy recipe that results in chewy gingerbread cookies, click here!

Mary and Joseph

Mary. A young virgin living in a small town. Engaged to Joseph, a Jewish carpenter.

Mary was just going about her day. Perhaps doing mundane chores. Perhaps dreaming about her wedding day. Maybe even trying to sneak a peek of her future husband as she walked past his carpentry workshop. That day, that most ordinary of days, was about to become the most extraordinary she’d ever lived.

A visit from an angel. An angel! A messenger of God Himself with a very special message for Mary. A message that would not only change her life forever, but one that would change the world.

The message? That Mary would conceive a son by the power of the Holy Spirit. She would give birth to the Son of God. Humbly, Mary accepted the angel’s declaration. “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.”

I wonder if Mary went home and contemplated if the prophecy in Isaiah she had heard all through her growing up years was about to be fulfilled.

The prophecy? “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders.”

Could this long-awaited prophesied child possibly be the same child growing in her womb?

Joseph. A young man living in the same small town as his fiancée, Mary.

Joseph was just going about his day. Perhaps doing mundane chores. Perhaps dreaming about his bride. Maybe even trying to sneak a peek of her as she walked down the street of his carpentry workshop.

That day, that most ordinary of days was about to take a turn for the worse. Mary told him that she was pregnant, and he knew he wasn’t the father. She insisted that she hadn’t been unfaithful—that the child inside her was a miracle created by God Himself. As much as Joseph wanted to believe her, he just couldn’t, and they parted ways, both with tears in their eyes. As Joseph lay down to sleep that night, he thought to himself, “I’ll divorce her quietly, so she won’t be disgraced.” And then?

A visit in a dream from an angel. An angel! A messenger of God Himself with a very special message for Joseph. A message that would not only change his life forever, but one that would change the world. The message? That Joseph should not be afraid to take Mary home as his wife, because the baby inside of her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you, Joseph, are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.

I wonder if Joseph’s first thought when he woke up was if the prophecy in Isaiah he had heard all through his growing up years was about to be fulfilled. The prophecy? “The Lord himself will give you a sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means 'God is with us').”

Could his beloved Mary be the pregnant virgin of the prophecy? Could the promised “Immanuel”, the promised “God with us” be the very baby to be born to his dear Mary?

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

What an amazing day we had today! It snowed here! It broke a record today for being the earliest snow Houston has had on record. Cool, huh?! This was the view out my front door when it really started coming down:

Growing up in Texas where snow is as rare as tumbleweeds are in New York City, I just can't get enough of snow. My inner child just lights up, and I was gleefully jumping around the house. Then I pretty much just stared out the window, because I knew it wouldn't last forever. After a couple of hours, our lawn was covered in snow. Here's the backyard. I love the irony of palm trees and snow!

Some of our friends came over this evening with their kids. It was so much fun. We had a fire going in the fire place, our Christmas tree lights were on, music was playing, and our friends made Mayan hot chocolate. It was so fun and felt so Christmas-y!

It's going down into the 20s tonight. Brrrr! But so much fun!

Charitable Christmas Shopping

If any of you will be out with the masses doing your Christmas shopping Thanksgiving Weekend, I thought I'd pass this along:

Anyone making a purchase at ANY Barnes & Noble store on Nov. 28-29 (Saturday and Sunday) can mention promotion code 1007 6420 prior to checking out in the store or café and a portion of the proceeds will go to The Gladney Center for Adoption (our agency!).

Please feel free to forward this code to any interested family, friends and neighbors!

Happy Holidays!

Tradition

Every Christmas Eve for the past 15 years or so, my family has always attended a Christmas party given by a family in our church. And for the past 10 years or so, a group of us girls always gather to have our pictures made together. I have known these two gals since I was a teenager.

I love family and friend traditions, and as I get older and have more years behind me, traditions like these mean more to me than ever. I hope to raise my own children with rich traditions that will give them a sense of where they come from when they get older.

I feel very blessed to have a sense of that myself because of the traditions I grew up with.

What are some of your favorite family/friend/holiday traditions?

Happy New Year! (Adapted from our Christmas letter that went out during the holidays)

Dear Friends and Family,

2008 has been a year of both joy and sadness. We are so thankful to have a loving and faithful God who never leaves us nor forsakes us!

Joys: My sister and brother-in-law welcomed their son Samuel to the world. He is such a little love and I cannot adequately explain in words how much I absolutely adore being his "Tia".

We celebrated our first anniversary at Dana Point and Disneyland!

I performed in How the Other Half Loves at Long Beach Playhouse.

We enjoyed a fabulous vacation to Spain and Paris!

Sadness: On June 11, after a long and courageous battle with cancer, my father passed away. My sister and I had several visits with him during his last months, and an amazing last visit with him, just days before he died. We are so thankful that he got to meet little Sam two or three times before he passed on to Heaven. We love you, Dad!

Exciting News!!! God has opened a door for Hubs to be the Discipleship Pastor at a wonderful church in the Houston area. We are so tickled at the thought that the Lord brought me all the way out to California to meet Hubs, only for him to get a job right back in the Houston area! God really does have a good sense of humor, and we are excited about the blessing of living close to family and so many of our friends! We'll be moving to Houston in a couple of months, and you can rest assured that I'll be documenting it all right here on The Starshine Report! 

May the Lord bless you and your family this Christmas season and all throughout 2009!

Happy New Year,

Starshine and Hubs

Love * Loyalty * Lifetime

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas my dear friends!

Our warmest wishes for a happy and peaceful holiday,

Starshine and Hubs

Bethlehem Ponderings

On Sunday night, I attended a gathering at my church designed to help us pause during the busyness of the holiday season and reflect a bit on the Reason we are all running around celebrating in the first place. Each of us received a handout with some questions to ponder:

~As you ponder the scene of Jesus' birth, what sticks out to you? Ask God why this is important for you.

~Think about how Jesus' birth in a place like a stable in Bethlehem is a symbol of humility. Jesus' humble beginning started in a stable.

~Where am I being called to be humble?

Here were some of my thoughts:

As I ponder the scene of Jesus' birth, the thing that sticks out to me is the phrase "No room at the inn". Jesus, the King and Savior, couldn't even be born at the inn. I imagine how frustrating and scary it must have been for Mary and Joseph. Did they feel disowned by God in their hour of need?

Even as God was delivering His Son into the world to redeem it, Mary and Joseph could have felt like God had abandoned them, wondering where He was in the midst of their obedience. ("God, in obedience to You, I agreed to carry this child," perhaps Mary was thinking. "Now is the time for me to give birth, and You won't even provide me with a clean place to have this baby? Really? You're going to make me do this in a stinky, dirty stable?") Yet, their Savior was right there with them, entering the world in the most humble of ways to save the people from their sins. On the dusty dirty floor of this stable was being birthed "good news of great joy that will be for all the people"!

Thank You, God, that you are accomplishing some of Your most redeeming work when You seem the farthest away. Thank You that even though at times it feels like You have abandoned us, You are right there, closer than the air we breathe.

Cool Yule

We put up our little Christmas tree over the weekend, and I'm loving how it makes our home feel!  This is my favorite time of the year!

Hubs and I have been taking swing dancing classes off and on since before we got married, and for the past six weeks, we took a class to learn a Christmas routine called "Cool Yule". Last night, we performed the routine for friends and family.

This is a photo of the whole class:

And here's the video of us doing our routine:

Have a Yule that cool, y'all!

"It's the most wonderful time of the year!" - E. Pola and G. Wyle

Christmastime really is the most wonder-full time of the year, isn't it?!

At this time of year, I like to read books, watch films, and bake cookies to get me in the holiday mood and to prepare my heart for the season.  These things feel like Christmas to me:

~Point of Grace Christmas Album

~Mariah Carey Christmas Album

~The Christmas tunes of Ray Conniff

~Watching White Christmas with my sister

~Orange-iced cinnamon rolls a la Pillsbury with mimosas on Christmas morning

~Reading the story of Jesus' birth in the book of Luke

What gets you into the Christmas spirit?

"O" is for Obesession

I think Hubs and I officially achieved "old married couple" status over the Christmas holidays when we realized our mutual love for Scrabble. We haven't stopped playing since--at least once a week, but often more than that!

Scrabble trivia: Did you know that 1 in 3 American families owns a Scrabble game?

Home for Christmas

Hubs and I are in Texas for the holidays!

It was awesome to wake up in the middle of the night to hear it pouring rain on the roof...we're not used to that in LA!

Just wanted to say "yee-haw" from Texas. :)

We'll be spending the evening with my Dad tonight for an early Christmas celebration.

Love y'all,
Starshine

Joy to the World!

On Sunday night, Hubs and I attended a fantastic Christmas program at Bel Air Presbyterian Church. The church is located on LA's westside, and 75% of the congregation is in the entertainment industry. Needless to say, anything the church does entertainment-wise is pretty excellent. This Christmas program featured a choir and orchestra, a band, and a mix of classical and contemporary music.

The big finale was a Mariah Carey-esque version of "Joy to the World", which is probably my all-time favorite Christmas carol. With Christ's birth, joy burst onto the scene! Heaven's gates opened and God's peace, hope and joy were being offered to the world in the Person of Jesus.

The lyric of the song that stuck with me and continued to ring in my head after we left the church that night was "Let every heart prepare Him room." Isn't that, after all, the reason the Church observes the advent season leading up to Christmas each year? And isn't that also one of the reasons we are focusing more on prayer this month--so that December 25th doesn't sneak up on us without our having reflected on Jesus at all?

Christmas is only about a week away! During the next week as you are praying, ask the Lord to show you if there is anything that needs to be rearranged or purged to make room in your heart for Him.

"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us." ~Matthew 1:23

God is with us. We have not been left alone. Let every heart prepare Him room ... joy to the world!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!

As I sit here at my computer, I'm feeling all relaxed and wonderful because I just spent the afternoon at the spa. Ahhh. Many thanks to my sweet Hubs, who gave me a spa gift card last summer for my birthday. I decided to use the whole thing in one day, and I had a mani/pedi and a massage. It was so luxurious and relaxing. They also let you use their other facilities, so I took a steam and then showered in this awesome shower with three spigets. They had this delicious-smelling shampoo and conditioner in the shower, so now my hair is peppermint scented. My finger nails are a natural light pink, and my toes are a jolly Christmas red!

In the spirit of the holiday season, I thought I'd post some fun pics I've taken over the past couple of weeks.

We don't have room in our place for a big tree, so we bought three small ones and put them on our sofa table. It was so fun to pull out the box of Christmas ornaments that my mom has saved for me over the years to decorate with.

Hubs put the Santa hat on top of the tree.


My stepdad, John, was a bit of a clothes horse. He worked in sales for most of his working life, and wore neckties a lot. After he passed away four and a half years ago, we decided to make a Christmas tree skirt out of his neckties. Actually, there were enough for us to make two! So my mom has one around her tree, and I have one around mine. It looks really festive and is always a fun way to remember him. My mom can even remember which ones he wore for certain occassions, so she'll sometimes say, "I remember when he wore that one to the Christmas party. He wore that one at our wedding." *warm fuzzies*

Some of our friends have an annual Christmas cookie night. It is a large gathering with massive amounts of chocolate chip cookies and music. The hosting family has a lot of musical talent, so we all gathered around the piano and sang carols as father and son played guitar and piano. We also played "Silent Night" on bottles.

One night, we had a dinner party with some friends and I thought it would be fun to make a candle platter. So I placed several pillar candles of varying heights on a serving platter and lit them up! It was beautiful and smelled marvelous.


The only thing is that all those flames so close together get hot, and it ends up looking like this. I think it was worth it, but I'm not sure what it will be like to clean that up. Hopefully it will come right off. I'm optimistic that way:





I grew up decorating gingerbread houses that my mom would construct from shoe boxes and graham crackers. I was so thrilled when our friends Heather and Shiloh (cool names, huh?) brought me a gingerbread house kit. The bread was already made and it came with all the icing and candy, so all I had to do was assemble and decorate. I copied the decorating design on the box and it came out all colorful and cheery. I have it on our living room table, and every so often, I get a whiff of gingerbread. Mmmm.





I hope you all are having a very joyful holiday season so far!


Lots of love,
Starshine