first of all... merry Christmas Eve!!!! i haven't blogged in awhile, and one of the things i pride myself on is being real... so here's a REAL look at:

GONSER CHRISTMAS 2012

this is the first year for RACK... Random Acts of Christmas Kindness... we started like mad men!! we were going 100 mph! then... school programs... and baking... and SICKNESS... and empty wallets... GOT US.

this first year was totally an experiment. we have a small stack of RACK's we still need to do, and WE WILL! even if we're RACK'ing in January! and we learned some things along the way. we decided on some things we'll do differently next year, but we will DEFINITELY do it again!

i will do a more complete update to let you know other RACK's we did and ones we still need to do...

CHRISTMAS MIRACLES... this Christmas has been... sort of... Magical... i can't put my finger on it... it's not like one BIG thing... it's a bunch of little things... one of which i'll share now...

our family has an "idealistic" life... but most people don't know the truly broken road both mike and i had to travel to get where we are today. we literally had to strap on hip waders and crawl out of holes... no joke! some of the adversity, i'm sure we'll share some day... but some is too difficult to even talk about... but, it's because of what we've overcome that we can truly appreciate what we have today!!

it's difficult for me to share my intimate faith with God sometimes... i know... i SHOULD shout it from the roof tops, but sometimes, i'm just afraid i'll sound like a lunatic. but here goes! in december 2011, i was cleaning my craft room, which is a daunting task!! and clear as day, God told me "you don't have to worry about money anymore." wow... ok... i totally thought i was either: a) insane or b) making it up myself. soooo... i just ignored it. throughout the year, when financial worries would arise, i'd hear this quiet "i told you, you don't have to worry..." so, i'd try to relax... and SURE ENOUGH... EVERY FINANCIAL "CRISIS" WAS HANDLED!!!! 2012 was AMAZING! mike got a new job... then went back to his previous employer, only to a NEW position and a raise... and within two months, he'd been promoted again with ANOTHER raise! i got a fantastic bonus... we started a small business at home with unbelievable success... 2012 was a BLESSED YEAR!

we took our children + 3 of their friends to florida for thanksgiving and had an amazing time... when we got back, we were ready to BLESS others like we'd never done before! and we did! maybe TOO good.... last week... looking at my checking account... i was stressing... i get like that... and there was that voice "don't worry..." but it was hard... we'd been RACK'ing and blessing people... providing gifts, trees, food, beds... to people around our community... and friday, december 21st, i felt like i needed someone to RACK ME!!!! i wasn't happy with the gift i'd gotten mike... we still had 3 gift cards to buy... ugh... a bill to pay... i couldn't see how we would accomplish all this...

i trudged in to work... jumped on the on-line bank site... and nearly had a HEART ATTACK!!! there... overnight, our account had DOUBLED!!! i couldn't understand... i was in shock.... i quickly clicked to see WHY! there it was... a deposit from mike's work... WHY??? payday was last week? and then i knew... God told me "when you don't see a way, I do... I told you NOT to worry". i seriously didn't know what to do... humbled by God's goodness and faithfulness... even when i... in my human blindness... don't see a way... God has a plan! i called mike... even he didn't know he'd gotten a Christmas bonus!

i'm sharing this story to offer hope... mike is always reminding me, i can't save everyone... and he's right... i can't... but Jesus can! and if you need some hope in your life... Jesus is the way! i swear... He'll bring a PEACE to your life you've never known before!

the first "real" tree we've had! so beautiful!

brady's crafty work!!

waaaayyy too many gifts.... i struggle with this... but mike and i agree... we don't spoil the kids TOO much.... there are no ipads under here! maybe a comb or two...???