“Your rest is not to be found in figuring your life out, but in trusting the One who has it all figured out for your good and His glory.”
Having been consumed the past several months with finishing our newest publication, The Family Table, rest (both figuratively and quantifiably) has been elusive. Of course it hasn’t been the project alone which has interrupted rest. World issues. National issues. Racial issues. Health issues. It’s been hard to find “rest” amidst the cacophony of conflicting voices, news, judgments, fears, etc. And then add Thanksgiving and Christmas in the mix, and we, like many, have at moments thought that the sentiment “Stop the world, I want to get off!” had at least temporary merit.
But God.
As disappointing, frustrating, confounding, and discouraging have been many days in recent history, God reminds us that He is still on the throne as our sovereign Lord and King. And it is in Him that we find our true rest.
As I’ve reviewed the past seven weeks since my last blog, I’m so thankful that we have shared many wonderful, memorable moments that are worth remembering. And celebrating.
Looking back to Thanksgiving a short 7 weeks ago, we spent that important holiday with our kids in Northern Virginia. Joined by my youngest sister and her husband, our intimate gathering was delightful. Traditions repeated. New ideas introduced. Great food. Stimulating conversations. Walks with the dog. Playing with the Littles, inside and out. Memories added to our “we are blessed” bank.
Rachel and “Gigi” frost the name card cookies for Thanksgiving dinner. Most of the frosting made it on to the cookies . . . 😊
Nathan carries on the tradition of Olive Fingers.
After dinner, the barefoot princess and her partner in crime strategize in the backyard.
A fishing excursion to the neighborhood creek yields the biggest fish to date—who was happily released back into the frigid waters.
On our drive home, we were thrilled to spend an hour over breakfast with our dear friends, Bill and Jo-Anne Shore. Only for the photo were we this close; the rest of the time, we were appropriately distanced. The visit was life-giving for all of us, but by their admission, it was a therapeutic interruption to their isolation which has been very difficult for this gregarious, relationship-driven couple. How we love them!!
A visit with Bill and Jo-Anne Shore gives a shot-in-the-arm always. True saints, these two.
Besides the ongoing book project for H.I.M., I spent a lot of time the first week of December making a digital book of my mama’s life, which I gifted each of my six siblings with for Christmas. Photos through her 90 years of life surfaced so many sweet memories of my life and filled me with both gratitude and a shadow of sadness as we approached our first Christmas without her. Photos do paint a thousand words. This is one of my favorites: taken in 1959, pre-only-brother’s arrival, our young family poses in front of Yosemite Falls, our favorite camping destination. This reminds me of what a trooper my mom was! Camping was really not her cup of tea, and camping in a tent was even less so, never mind with six children 10 and under, but she was fully supportive of the only way this big family could afford to vacation back in those days. My father, on the other hand, loved camping and no matter what we could or couldn’t afford, this would’ve been his choice vacation. As a result of my mother’s support and my dad’s passion, we all remember with great fondness our family camping trips. And some of us have carried the tradition on.
Photo 1959, at the base of Yosemite Falls. Yours truly is on the far left.
After cancelling our April 3-4 Engagement Matters weekend, which arrived too soon after the Covid lockdowns began for us to know how to navigate it virtually, we held our Dec. 3-4 EM via Zoom. We had 7 couples from around the country, mentored by three resource couples, and I thankfully report that it was a very successful weekend. Though it certainly lacked many of the dynamics that contribute to it being such a high impact experience (there really is no substitute for face-to-face interaction), to quote my mother, “it was better than a kick in the head.” Actually, much better! The hardest part was group interaction and reading body language, but all told, we were most grateful for a forum that facilitated this very vital ministry.
Not quite the same as being there, but it worked!
Our Patriots Couples’ Study and Women’s Study wrapped up the third week of December and we continued the tradition of gifting each of the participants with gifts bags containing Paul’s chocolate chip cookies, caramel corn, raspberry jam, bread, and cinnamon rolls. Paul delivered all of the bags and was so happy to see some of our dear friends in person for the first time this season (porch visits only). We are so thankful for those who were committed to gathering around His Word again this fall and for growth experienced by all.
Paul’s chocolate chip cookies were part of our gift bags for the Patriots couples.
The assembly line before the delivery
Fortunately, all the bags were delivered before our beautiful 12” snow storm arrived December 16-17th and to say I was in snow heaven would be an understatement. Twelve pure, fluffy inches blanketed our region, transforming the landscape into a winter wonderland at just the right time. “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas” was coming in to focus. I know mine isn’t the majority position, but I’m definitely in the “bring on the snow” camp.
The magical pre-Christmas snowfall in Bedford . . . snow globe life.
And at the end of the magnificent snowfall was this spectacular sunset. God’s gifts: reminders of beauty and power in the midst of humankind’s chaos.
The next day, Lisa flew home to fulfill her annual duties as my personal “Elf on a Shelf.” Oh how we love this tradition of her coming home for the holidays!! And she is a fellow snow lover, so we delighted in cross country skiing four out of the five days she was home. We are so fortunate to be able to walk to the conservation land which abuts our property and ski for miles. The. Best.
Hard to improve on cross country skiing together in “our” woods. Perfect everything.
Her days with us were a combination of work and play, and oft times those were combined. We invited our friend Lauren to join us in our annual gingerbread house construction project and fun was had by all. We made eight this year and had so much fun gifting them to dear friends.
Sweet time building gingerbread houses with Lisa and Lauren.
The first four are done and ready for distribution.
We kept busy preparing for Christmas, wrapping gifts, sending packages, and baking treats for giving, and then we rewarded ourselves by spending an evening in Boston, an outing always on the top of Lisa’s “To Do” list when she’s home. We enjoyed the lights, dinner, and cappuccino and cannoli in the North End. A perfect night.
Easy to be socially distanced in an empty restaurant. 😔
Modern Pastry comes through with cappuccino and cannolis . . . the best, in our humble opinion.
Though Christmas decorations were definitely scaled down, and the frog pond ice rink was not happening, we enjoyed what there was.
With the help of some very dear friends, Lisa was surprised with a horseback riding experience on the 23rd. She was over-the-moon thrilled to be back on a horse and I must say it was as equally thrilling for me and my accomplices to see her joy.
Brittany (and her mom Linda) made this horseback experience happen for Lisa and it was the best.
Back down to Northern Virginia we drove on Dec. 24 and launched our Christmas Eve traditions by opening our family matching jammies with the west coast crew via FaceTime.
The CA Littles opened their matching jammies over FaceTime as we opened them in NoVA.
Gigi is always greatly relieved when the jammies fit. The only one I had no concern about was Rex’s scarf. :)
Christmas Day arrived and the annual visit from Santa reinforced belief in a certain 5-year-old. Big 7-year-old brother played along with the “magic” which will have likely come to an end by Christmas 2021. The day was full of meaningful traditions, including the reading of the Christmas story from Luke 2, the “Happy Birthday Jesus” party, a beautiful meal shared with family, reading letters from “Santa,” and opening gifts evoking happy squeals of “Just what I wanted!” We were more aware than ever of the privilege of gathering as family during this time when so many were isolated from one another and many Christmas celebrations were but skeletal representations of “normal."
Santa showed up in NoVA, convincingly to the 5-year-old. 😄
The family gathered for Christmas dinner, very aware of the gift of being together.
This is the “reason for the season.”
Papa explained the gospel through the colors used on the cake: the chocolate interior representing sin, the white representing the purity of Jesus, the red representing the blood of Jesus, the green representing eternal life, and the candle representing that Jesus is the light of the world.
Our remaining days were full of playing indoors and out, eating fabulous meals, and just enjoying being together. We did venture out to a local park one afternoon to have a mini-Collins reunion where 4 of the 7 siblings gathered with spouses and a few kids. And we welcomed in the New Year, all of the adults making it up until the clock struck 12, which was no small feat.
Adventure in the woods with Papa, Rachel, and Nathan.
Our last gingerbread house construction party was held just after Christmas for Nathan and Rachel and their best friends.
Party at the park: mini-reunion of 4 of the 7 Collins siblings.
New Year’s Eve spread kept us going until midnight.
We drove home on January 2nd and have been back in the saddle since. The Family Table project is done and at the printer now. Christmas has been “put away.” Thank you notes have been written. Counseling has resumed with great demand.
Our long-awaited H.I.M. Cookbook, available this February
And for the first time in a long time, Paul is booking flights for speaking engagements.
No one knows what 2021 holds, for if anything is learned from 2020, it’s that our belief that we can control the unfolding of life is but a pipe dream. If our rest, our confidence, or our peace if dependent on that, we’re in for another rest-less year.
But God.
“Your rest is not to be found in figuring your life out, but in trusting the One who has it all figured out for your good and His glory.”
Amen.
