Christmas Light Snob

It is a well known fact that I'm an opinionated person. While the kids and I were out the other night I came to the realization that I'm highly opinionated on the subject of Christmas Lights. I took the kids out to see a drive-thru nativity that one of the churches puts on. It was really cute, and afterwards I thought it would be fun to drive around and see some lights. Caden especially really enjoys christmas lights. It was rather hard to find houses with lights up though. I realize this is because I live in a college town filled with apartments, but heavens, it was harder than it should have been. But when we finally did find an occasional house or two with lights I decided that colored christmas lights are the way to go. Don't get me wrong, white lights are very elegant and classy, but just not very festive. They go a lot better for weddings, or something like that. Christmas needs color...but not just any color....it needs lots of color. I remember Becky, my old roommate, mentioning once how she thought a strand of blue lights was just wrong. I never thought much of it until now. She's right. Same with just a strand of green. Nope, you need lots of colors. It doesn't matter if they are big or small, or if they blink or stay solid. It's a lot more fun to go look at the lights if there are colors to see. This is my snobby opinion.

For the first time since we've lived here we put up a Christmas tree. Dan came down for a weekend and I made him buy a fake tree. He's rather anti fake tree (truthfully I am too, but I was desperate), but agreed that it was best for us right now. The kids got a kick out of decorating it, and every night they love to sit and look at it. Okay, they like to play with it, but I get really upset if they touch, so they just get really close and say that they are just looking.

For FHE tonight we delivered christmas treats to the neighbors (well, some of them, I about froze so I gave up and went home). The kids had fun and enjoyed getting all bundled up. Poor Cole can't even move in his bundle, but hopefully he stayed warm enough.

Evaluation

I'm addicted to blogs. I freely admit this. Occasionally I come across one that really makes me stop, think, and re-evaluate my life. Becky, my old roommate from Snow, wrote such a blog and I thought I would share it with everyone.

Preview; (n) anything that gives an advance idea or impression of something to come; a foretaste
For those of you who don’t know, I happen to be one of God’s favorite offspring. They say parents aren’t supposed to have favorite children. But then, He treats me so well, I just assume I’m one of His. I’ve been blessed to do lots of stuff in my short 25 years. If my earthly obligations were fulfilled and over with today, I would consider my life fairly successful. But, being the bright-eyed, dreamy girl I usually am, I can’t help but imagine and fantasize of the things I have yet to do/accomplish/experience. I don’t conclude that to be a bad thing.In what at the moment seems unrelated: I can always tell what type of movie I’m at by the previews and trailers that come before it. Before kids’ movies, you’ll see things like animated animals in the previews. Before a romancey chick-flick, you’ll see lots of high-heels and happily-ever-afterish stuff. Before an action movie, you’ll see car chases and explosions (and probably some irrational yet passionate kiss). I could go on and on, but hopefully you catch my drift.If you can’t handle the previews, you probably can’t handle the show.If you like the previews, you’ll most likely enjoy the feature presentation.In a similar fashion I can often tell what I’m in line for in my life, by the previews I catch on my path. Occasionally, as a favorite child, God sees fit to bless me with my own personal previews of my own personal coming attractions. They’re everywhere for me.My mission president’s wife, Sister Fillmore, taught us in the mish about good mornings. She taught that you can usually discern the majority of your day by how the first 3 hours ran (attitude, scheduling, etc). It’s true. In my current daily life, the day flows much more smoothly when the Poptarts DON’T burn and the snooze button remains un-abused. Previews.One of the assistants to the president (also in the glorious PPM) testified that he usually finds that the level of spirituality he’ll have one day corresponds directly to the amount of effort and sincerity in his bedtime prayer the night before. I’ve seen this in my own life. When the scriptures are un-read, and the prayers are un-said, the day is virtually spiritually dead. (Gosh, that’s almost needlepointable.) It’s previewtastic.I speak often of my love for the Lord’s temples and my testimony of frequent temple attendance. I love my Tuesday mornings in the Jordan River Temple! If I make it for one of the first two sessions, they don’t usually have all the lights in the Celestial Room turned on yet. As I walk past, I always try to peek and notice the chandelier with only a slight glimmer on it. It’s my preview of my coming attraction.Not just that blessed glance, but also the hours I spend in the Lord’s house each week. The whole experience in itself is meant to be a preview for any attendee. Continued attendance, the strive for worthiness, my future temple marriage, hope for Eternal Life—these are the previews He sends of the features I most hope to see.I know if I’m partial to the previews, I’ll be partial to the feature presentation.Thankfully, the opposite can also be true. The Lord sees fit, sometimes, to give me previews that aren’t so pleasant. These are for the coming attractions that He’d rather not have me view. Occasionally I say things, do things, see things, hear things, or feel things that are pre-cursers for the Adversary’s “flicks” (pun intended). Sometimes the Spirit will tell me that if I don’t like the previews then I won’t like what’s next. Previews in every sense can be the motivator to drive us either towards the objective or elsewhereIn real life movies (where Diet Coke always tastes amazing and where I strangely feel slightly obligated to sneak candy in) I don’t really like when people talk through the previews. I feel the need to personally figure out what it is I’m in for. In real life, I feel it absolutely necessary to talk through many of the previews. I often need the help to figure out what it is I’m in for. Also, if I talk through the previews the Lord is giving me, I’m often more likely to notice them and let them direct my path accordingly.Entonces. . . I can tell where I’ve been because I replay it in my mind (you know, like renting the video? Mwah!). I can see where I’m at because I’m not freakin’ blind, duh (well, most of the time). And I can tell a lot about my future because I’m seeing it every day.The Lord is blessing us with Previews of Coming Attractions. Do we like what we see in our previews? (It’s rhetorical; you don’t really have to answer.) And, my dear blogstalking friends, if we can tell we don’t like what we’re in for, do we have the courage and faith to change to another locale? My prayer is that each of us will watch—with every intensity—the previews our Lord gives us of the coming attractions He sees ahead. My prayer is that we will obtain the path and direction He has chosen for each of us.. . . and that we’ll be delightfully entertained in every scene of the journey.