It's Advent. I can tell because....
.....of the fresh-smelling Advent Wreath in the dining room, and all of the "O Come O Come Emmanuel" that I'm hearing
And....Pip is back! The girls were excited when they spotted him. He started out on the TV cabinet and they pulled the step ladder over to get up close and personal but were careful not to touch him. There are strict rules in elfdom about that! Grace has been very careful about her Santa speech since Pip showed up.
And talk about being prepared! It is November 28th and I have packed and mailed over half of our Christmas packages. Yay me! That means I will be able to prepare a peaceful heart for Jesus this year.
While I'm on the subject of mailing, I have to tell you about something that happened at the mailing spot today. We went to a Post Haste in Humble because Madeleine needed to stop at a store nearby. The owner of the Post Haste looked to be of arab descent and was busy with a customer when we walked in. He told me he'd be with me shortly and the four younger Doyle Dames found spots on the floor near a shelf of toys and books and entertained themselves. While I was waiting, another customer walked in, a black woman with a middle-school aged daughter. When the store owner finished with his first customer, the woman handed him a piece of paper, a record of some kind of previous transaction, telling him there were mistakes. He took the paper and went to correct it but came back and told her it would take time. She started arguing with him, telling him it was his mistake and he needed to fix it immediately so he opened his cash drawer and gave her what he thought was her refund amount--$16 or so. He looked stressed--probably because of the arguing and the fact that I was standing there with multiple boxes to tape up and mail and four kids hanging around on the floor. She must have thought his look was insulting to her because she said something like, "what--you're blaming me for your mistake? What kind of customer service is that?" He responded that he had given her her money. She gave a big huff and started walking to the door ranting, "I hate foreigners. I hate foreigners. They should go to their own country and act like that."
Now, what I should have said....what I should have said was, "your ancestors were foreigners too. And by the way I hate black people." (which I do NOT but there are plenty of people who do and can you imagine what would have happened if I had said that?) Of course, if you know me, you know I never would have said that--particularly not in front of my kids--and really, what difference would it have made? I did tell the man that what she had said was very wrong and apologized for her. I wonder how many times he has heard similar things. It makes me so sad. We all have much to do to prepare our hearts, to right wrongs done and to change our ways to His.
Happy Advent All.
Arrival of oldest Henkel coming soon......
Bonus pic
The outfit Sophie chose for herself today
