Write My Life

To all our family and friends:

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”- Luke 2:11-14

Merry Christmas!

At DML we had a “secret elf” stocking exchange. After everyone received their stocking, we found out who our elf had been and opened the stocking. The very creative and fun Heather Binnie was my secret elf. Let me just say this was FUN, FUN, FUN!!!

Thank you Heather!

Jennifer and I are both creating gifts for family members that involve paper and stamping. Initially Jennifer struggled with the stamping. She didn’t yet have the hang of how much pressure to put on the stamp. She even noticed that different stamps need different pressure. So, it took her awhile to get used to the feel. Being the perfectionist she is (hmmm…where did she get that????) she didn’t like her initial pages. She’s doing better now and feeling better. Melody Langworthy designed the tag book.

There’s always a long list of things we would like to do for the Christmas season. Here are a few things our family enjoys:

1. Put up and decorate the Christmas tree. DONE.

2. Bake cookies. DONE – more than once. The last batch came out much better than previous attempts!

4. Walk down Candy Cane Lane

5. The girl’s shop for their siblings. DONE.

6. Visit a live nativity. DONE.

7. Family Photo.

8. Read Christmas story from the Bible.

9. Daily changing the day on the Christmas calendar. IN PROGRESS.

Here are a few samples of the questions and answers:

What gifts do we give on Christmas that do not come in a box?

Jackie – Love

Denise – Time together

Mike – Playing games

Jennifer – Things in your stocking

The birth of Christ is a story that has been told for centuries. What is an important story from your family’s history?

Jackie – the story of how the “Gormish” name came to be recognized in the United States

Denise – the birth of both our daughters and how God took care of us. Jennifer’s middle name is “Grace” because of how God was gracious to us in their births.

Here is a sample of a few of the highly decorated cards. The answers are on the backside in my handwriting. These cards feature flourishes and flowers, two of my favorites things, and Art Warehouse stamps.

Every December we roll out the dough and make a mess of the kitchen. But something is wrong this year. Twice I’ve attempted to have a holiday baking day.

Twice the baking did not go as planned. Each time only 1 out of the 3 recipes came out as planned. Two were total disasters, which couldn’t be eaten. What’s the matter? I wondered. I hit the end of my rope when I was making a new recipe, which called for separating the eggs. When I should just add the yolks, I added the whites instead. I knew my mistake almost immediately but it was unsalvageable. I ranted about how stupid I was to make that mistake. Jennifer comforted me but I couldn’t get over it. I stomped all around the kitchen.

Finally I just plopped on the couch. I had a moment to think. My thoughts came back to this holiday baking disaster. It may be a baking disaster but its not really the focus of Christmas. I turned off the lights, except those on the Christmas tree. I popped in a CD of Christmas songs and sang away. All the anxiety melted away as I remembered what God did and the amazing story of Jesus’ birth.

Are you far away from home
This dark and lonely night
Tell me what best would help
To ease your mind
Someone to give
Direction for this unfamiliar road
Or one who says, “follow me and I
Will lead you home”