Can't Put a Price on This Gift

Christmas and my birthday fall at the end of December.  Talk about saving the best for last!  We celebrate the birth of our Savior and exchange gifts with those we love.  Boyce and the kiddos always put real thought into selecting gifts for me, which just touches my heart.  My favorite gift this year, however, didn't come from a store.  It wasn't even placed under the tree--though that would have been a sight!  My most treasured gift of 2014 is having my daughter here with me.

I've been somewhat of a mess this month.  Maybe it's the fact that she's no longer getting the harsh levels of chemo that, while slamming her body, still kept the cancer away.  Maybe it's the fact that she will be heading back to school next month--which I keep telling myself is a good thing, though we will still have many precautions in place as she continues treatment.  Maybe, just maybe--it's the fact that this time last year Paige was getting sick, so sick that just a couple of weeks later we found ourselves facing a giant we never could have imagined.  Regardless of the cause, it was time for a solution.  I needed to stop worrying about things beyond my control and get my focus back to where it belonged--on God and His amazing grace.

Our family always attends a Christmas Eve candlelight service at church.  The last couple of years, because of Boyce's crazy retail schedule over the holidays, it's just been the kids and me.  This year, though, all four of us were there--which I know was not a coincidence.  We needed that time--to worship, to celebrate, and to give thanks together.  It was the best Christmas Eve yet!

Christmas Day was just as wonderful.  Thanks to some special people who wanted to bless the socks off of our family, Paige and Jeremy had presents under the tree, around the tree--basically all over the living room.  It was just awesome watching them open their gifts, excited about the things they'd received.  At one point Paige was sitting there, looking around at everything.  I asked her if she was okay (something I do way too much, I know), thinking maybe she wasn't feeling well.  "I'm okay, Mom," she said.  "This is all just a little overwhelming--that people would do all this for us."  Overwhelming, indeed.

It's overwhelming sometimes to think about how far Paige has come.  How she has handled everything her body and mind have been through.  How she has grown in strength and faith.   I couldn't be more amazed at this girl.  Having her home and seeing the healing in her are the best gifts I could have received this year--or any year, for that matter!

Every good and perfect gift is from above...   
James 1:17