Merry late Christmas, friends! I could say I've taken a vacation from blogging, but that wouldn't be altogether true since I'm not the most regular blogger in the world. So sorry!

We had a really happy, restful Christmas--our first as a couple not spent with either set of parents. On Christmas Eve we visited my grandma in the nursing home. We spent our time with her in the dining room while she ate her lunch, and it was precious to watch the other elderly residents enjoying the children's antics. That evening there was a Christmas Eve service led by Earl Sandford at church. Nearly everyone who attends our church was there, plus a few more. It was a cozy, intimate time of reading Christmas stories and singing Christmas carols.

On Christmas morning the kids were very kind to us and didn't get up till nearly 7:00 (beats the 5:30 my sisters and I used to get up as kids!). We opened stockings, then ate breakfast--or picked at it; even Dunkin Donuts weren't enough to tempt the kids when there were presents to open. Then we dug into the bounty! It was fairly chaotic but not out of control. The kids actually let me and Evan open a few. Tucker was happiest playing with everyone else's toys. I think I've finally grown up--I got more pleasure out of watching the kids get their presents than I did out of my own. Though I did get some wonderful presents. An ESV Bible, fur-lined (fake, of course) leather gloves, and a large tote bag my mom made were among my favorites.

Chloe got a little vanity with fake makeup which has turned out to be her favorite. On Christmas night I caught her perching on top of a waist-height toolbox with the vanity set on a shelf in front of her actually PRIMPING! I got a picture I hope to post here. Pretty scary to think of her already figuring that out at only 2 1/2. Didn't I mention a few months ago it was going to be a long 16 years?

Both our cars passed inspection today! Praise the Lord! And with less than $200 worth of repairs. We were afraid it might be worse. God is good.

I've tried to think of this week as a vacation week, which is a little challenging since a mother's work never goes away. But we haven't had Bible study or company or AWANA, I haven't done any housecleaning (horrors!), I've read a few pages from a couple of books, and I've done some scrapbooking, something I haven't done since before Tucker was born. It was time to get his scrapbook started and it's been really fun.

Most of you know I have food allergies. The Lord has been gracious to help me deal with them graciously without complaining (too much), but every now and then everything within me rises up and rebels against them. I mean, Lord, gluten is bad enough, but couldn't you at least let me have chocolate? or peanuts? or dairy? Cut out those four things and you don't have much left. Especially at Christmastime. Several weeks ago I had a serious talk with the Lord. All the yummy Christmas goodies seemed to have all my allergens, and I couldn't even find carob that didn't contain gluten or dairy. There were chocolate bars without gluten and dairy--BUT I CAN'T HAVE CHOCOLATE, for crying out loud! So I was whining to the Lord and asking Him to please let there be something yummy I could eat this Christmas.

Well, once again He showed Himself to be the compassionate, loving heavenly Father that He is, able to deal with my temper tantrum. First, He gave me the idea of searching on the internet for Jillable (a term a friend coined for anything Jill is allowed to eat) carob. It didn't take long for me to find a company that sells carob bars and chips manufactured in Israel that were gluten- and dairy-free. I ordered some and they came the day before Christmas Eve, just in time for me to enjoy. I took a bite out of one and had to keep checking the label to make sure it was legal because it TASTED SO MUCH LIKE CHOCOLATE! In less than a week I've eaten three whole bars and a batch of out-of-this-world (for me anyway; you all might not agree!) carob chip cookies, all the while thanking my dear Father for this special Christmas gift.

This all probably sounds funny, but when you think about not being able to eat these foods for 15 years, finding something like this is a huge deal. And I felt the Lord helped me to not be bitter in my complaining, just pour out my heart "in my complaint" as one of the Psalms says. You know what I mean how it's different?

Anyway, to make a very long, tedious story short, several other things happened to show that the Lord has a purpose in allowing this thorn in the flesh, other than the obvious of character building. My mom called and told me about a friend of hers that had just been diagnosed with gluten intolerance who might be calling me soon for ideas on alternatives and recipes. And I found out a young girl in our church also is allergic to gluten and dairy. It gave me great pleasure to buy her a legal treat that I could give her when I delivered our family's gift of homemade (illegal) toffee, and to find out how much that meant to her. She later gave me a bag of delicious gluten-free cookies she had made! So, to see that our own sufferings can be used of God to help others is a beautiful thing, making them not seem quite so painful.