The Tree!

Our tree!

Daddy helps her put the high ones up

It is a tradition in our home to go out to a Christmas tree farm and get a fresh cut tree on the weekend after Thanksgiving. My husband loves this tradition, and it may very well be his favorite part of being married to an American Girl. We both love Douglas Fir for its full shape and wonderful scent. Many people have switched to the convenience of an artificial plastic tree. In the long run it is cheaper, saves time, and no mess. I will never switch to an artificial tree. This is no judgment on anyone that has one. I just love a fresh tree. The smell is intoxicating to me.

At night or in the early morning I love coming out in to the living-room with the tree all lit up. I sit and drink coffee or chai and just adsorb the aroma and the beauty of the tree. I feel a sense of peace and happiness wash over me. I just love a Christmas tree! I am so happy that my daughter and husband do as well. I made cinnamon rolls and hot chai and pizza for dinner. We had alot of fun decorating the tree. 

She loves Ornaments just as much as mommy and daddy

My husband is the perfectionist. Every light and ornament must be perfectly placed! he spends hours stepping back and checking the view. Nasreen loves the put the ornaments all in one little cluster at the bottom of the tree and is so proud of her accomplishment. Daddy quietly moves them to a better location when she has looked away.

Stole an Elf from the North Pole 🙂

Makes me laugh every time

Our sweet little nativity piece

This year we bought a few new pieces. Many of our ornaments broke in the move. I especially love this santa we got. He is on a spring and when you shake him a little he does a big fat santa hula type movment, it crack me up. I also got a little nativity scene. I really hope to find a larger one, as a child I loved looking at the nativity scene. The Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, animals, and wise men. They filled my mind with so much thought. It sure feels like Christmas in the Rallhan household 🙂

Have Faith That God Will Provide

A couple of days ago I was very stressed. I was thinking about our coming move to California. I was worried about the job logistics. I have been applying for jobs in California while I am still here in Michigan. I was hoping to have some interviews set up for when I come back, but employers are responding faster then I first thought. So I  was stressing about the idea of having to go before my husband by plane or train. The problem is I would not have a car there in California, because our car needed to be driven from Michigan. Nothing seemed to be working out how I planned and I was feeling overwhelmed. 

To calm my fears and anxiety I started to pray. I dont pray in the traditional sense with specific words or gestures. I literally pace in circles or sit and just talk to God. I talk about how I am feeling, I ask for clarity and insight. To an observer I probably look like a schizophrenic talking to the voices in my head.

I just kept asking God what should I do? Is it all going to work out? Is this a huge mistake leaving without jobs set up?!  I sat down with my head in my hands feeling overwhelmed. I suddenly felt an overwhelming need to open the Bible. I took the Bible in my hands, closed my eyes and calmed my mind. With my eyes still closed I opened the Bible on a place that felt so right! My eyes saw the passage, and I knew that God was speaking to me through the Bible! 

Matthew 6:25-34

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? ²⁸ And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you,O you of little faith? ³¹ Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ³⁴ “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

 I had my answer plain and simple! God was telling me point blank to calm down, have faith and God will provide! I instantly felt comforted by this passage and knowing that God was right there with me guiding me the entire way. 

I decided to share my experience because I think that it is so important for people to be reminded that God is always with us, and no matter how stressful the situation may be God will always provide what we need. 

I hope that everyone has a blessed day!