It's Christmas time and you can feel the magic in the air....or that might just be the cold. Bradley and I are preparing for our second Christmas as a married couple and our first Christmas morning by ourselves. He has to work Christmas Eve day and Christmas night so my parents have graciously volunteered to journey to our house to do our family Christmas together. They will come around lunchtime, which means Bradley and I will be alone on Christmas morning. I love our families but I have to say, I am SO excited about spending Christmas morning by ourselves. Next Christmas we will have a 6-month old which will be wonderful, but I am looking forward to cherishing the time we have to spend together before the baby arrives.
Speaking of the baby, we find out (hopefully) the gender this coming Friday!!! I hope to goodness our little one cooperates...I might have to drink a Mountain Dew just in case ;)
We are going to Aiken for the sonogram and spending the night with Brad's parents, waking up to celebrate Christmas and have a big yummy lunch together. This Christmas will be very special but also very hard because as most of you know, Abby, Jonathan, Kyle, and baby St. Clair are leaving January 8 for Africa to minister there for 3 1/2 years. That will be a later blog, as I do not want to cry right now (...might be too late)
Thinking about Christmas has made me ponder many things in my heart and since I have a blog, I figured I'd share with you all. First, I have been thinking about Mary. Being a pastor's daughter, every year of my life I've heard about Mary and Joseph and their trip to Bethlehem. I've heard about there being "no room in the inn" for them so Mary had to give birth to Jesus in a stable. Obviously my thoughts are consumed with pregnancy and thoughts of my little baby growing inside of me but this Christmas I am thinking about Mary. She must've been such a strong woman. As pregnant as she was, she had to make a long trip JUST to find out they had to stay in a stable. Now I know I'm not 9 months pregnant (yet) but even just the mental part of taking a long journey, not knowing where you would give birth or where your baby would sleep must've been exhausting. I have been making plans about where to have my baby, where we will live, what kind of job Brad will have (well, that part is up to him) and it is hard. Mary must've felt scared, excited, doubtful, overwhelmed, sad, happy, you name it and she must've felt it all at once. Plus, she had the added pressure (and blessing) of having God's Son as her own. I'm sure she wondered if she would be good enough to raise Jesus...to teach him, look after him, feed him, shelter him, etc. I feel that about my own child and he/she isn't the Son of God, just another sinful human being (as much as I'd like to think Baby Temple is perfect). I truly admire her and have a new perspective about the Christmas story (this happens every year, surprisingly, but I shouldn't be surprised as the Holy Spirit is continually teaching me new things). This is one thing that has been on my mind a lot lately.
Another is the lives of the people around me. I don't know if it is because I am especially emotional and sensitive now that I'm pregnant, or if the Holy Spirit is trying to teach me yet again to be understanding and compassionate. I work as a receptionist at a cardiologist's office and I come into contact with every single patient that comes in. Since it is a cardiologist's office, the majority of our patients are older, some very elderly. Some are very nice and compliment me on my smile and some are rude and condescending, barking orders at me and refusing to fill out the paperwork that I so desperately hate to ask them to do but HAVE to. At times I get very impatient and want to snap back at them (I do not because I value my job and integrity) but it gets very hard to be understanding when the first impression I get of them is that they are just mean.
Recently there was a married couple that came in and the husband was very sick. Since I've worked there they have come in a few times, always together, always with a look of love in their eyes (they have to be at least 80 years old). So when they came in that day, their daughter snapped at me several times saying that her dad needed to get back in a room right that second and I tried to be as nice as I could to her but all the rooms were full so there was nothing I could do about it. She didn't understand, as most people don't understand how it works but I tried to explain it the best I could. Eventually they went back to see the doctor and left. Three days later we learned that the man had passed away. Everyone was sad because they were such a sweet couple and now the wife was a widow. She came in this week to see the doctor and I was speechless. I didn't know how to approach the situation...should I tell her I heard about the passing of her husband? Should I just act like nothing ever happened? I don't know her and therefore don't know if she would want to talk about it or not. Some older widows love to mention their husbands and some don't bring them up at all. So I decided just to not mention it because I didn't want to upset her. I asked her how she was doing, just like I ask every other patient, and she smiled really sweetly at me and said "Just fine, thank you, how are you?" That was almost worse than watching her cry because I knew she was putting on a front and trying to get over the death of her husband. I just wanted to hug her.
I can't even imagine the pain of losing a spouse. Bradley and I will celebrate our second wedding anniversary in May and even being together for such a short time compared to a lot of people, I just don't know what I would do if he died. I cry just thinking about it. Of course, being a planner, my plan would be to go live with my parents and be depressed for a very long time. Now that I am carrying his baby, I can't think about how hard it would be. Every time I would see our child, I would see Bradley. I'm not trying to be depressing here, and I have a point but I know all of you think about this at least once in your life. These people that come in the office I work at are hurting during this time of year, especially that lady because this is her first Christmas without the love of her life.
My point of thinking about all this and writing it on here is to remind people that they need to be extra sensitive during this season as you do not know the situation of the people around you. Yes, somebody might cut you off in traffic or jump in front of you in line at Walmart but you never know what they're going through. So while you're happy and celebrating with your family, think about all the blessings God has given you and say an extra prayer for the people who have lost someone special or may be all alone on Christmas.
Now that you know all that I've been thinking about, it's time for a recipe. (I think about food all the time) One of the Masters family traditions is Christmas morning breakfast. Every year we wake up early, drink coffee while we open presents, then have a scrumptious breakfast of quiche, cinnamon rolls, and sparking white grape juice. I have grown to really love this tradition and want to carry it on with my family and since we're by ourselves this Christmas morning, I am making our traditional breakfast. The quiche is my great-aunt Lisa's recipe and it is outstanding so I would love to share it with all of you!
It is actually "Hamburger Quiche" and is made with hamburger and onions but to make breakfast quiche we're gonna use sausage and take out the onions. My mom and I double this recipe to make two quiches so the yumminess can continue after Christmas.
Christmas Quiche
1/2 lb pork sausage
1 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup canned (evaporated) milk
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 eggs
dash of pepper
Cook sausage and drain. Blend mayo, eggs, milk, and cornstarch until smooth. Add in meat and cheese and mix all together. Pour into 9 in pie crust and bake at 350 degrees for 25-40 minutes (until mixture sets). Serve hot and enjoy!
Before
After
Can't wait to tear into this on Christmas morning!!!
We make these ahead of time (I just made mine today) and freeze them so on Christmas morning we can pop them in the oven while we're opening presents and chow down when we're done!
On the agenda for the rest of the evening: eating supper (rotisserie chicken from Walmart, shells & cheese, and roasted broccoli...YUM), wrapping presents, and finishing up our stockings I started sewing last year and never finished. I love my evenings spent with Bradley. He is wonderful and I am so blessed to be his wife.
May God bless all of you and your families this Christmas and make sure you remember the reason for the season: "For God so loved the world He gave his one and only Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." -John 3:16
With love,
Hannah Elise
I loved reading this. Your heart is so big and so kind. I'm beyond excited about Friday!!!!
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