A Super-Hero Christmas

A Super-Hero Christmas

by | Dec 19, 2024 | Thoughtful Thursdays

A year ago, I certainly wouldn’t have dreamed that Christmas 2024 would see me at the Cancer Institute, getting radiation therapy. For that matter, even when I was diagnosed back in April, I fully expected to be done with all treatment by now.

But…no. LOL.

The way the schedule worked out, and thanks to us scheduling a vacation for December 14-21 (since we couldn’t take one over the summer, we had to wait for another big break for our daughter), radiation got pushed back until “after the holidays,” they said. Turns out “after the holidays” means going up on Christmas Eve for a simulation and then starting on December 26th.

I met with my radiation oncologist a few weeks ago and we immediately liked him. He’s the head of the department, which is nice, and has a great sense of humor, which is even better. I jokingly asked him if this would give me super powers, and he didn’t miss a beat. He said, “Well, we can’t rule it out!”

So that’s my new line. I’m totally getting super powers for Christmas. 😉 And if that super power is Remaining Cancer Free, I will be thrilled.

I went up on December 9 to get a scan and make my mold–how they’ll ensure I’m in the exact same place each time. As already mentioned, I’ll have a simulation on Christmas Eve–I keep calling it the Test Run. 😉 But on the Second Day of Christmas, I’ll begin my first day of radiation. I will have 15 sessions total, skipping New Years Day and weekends, and will finish up on January 16.

My appointments are at 7 in the morning, which means early wake-ups for the 90 minute drive, but that’s okay. Xoe will be in until January 5, and I don’t want to miss time with her, so we’re not planning on staying up there or anything. I figure with those early morning appointments, I should be home before my night owl daughter even wakes up! 😉

They said that the most common side effects from this therapy are tiredness (not at the start, but by the end…it’s cumulative) and of course the skin at the sites could burn, so they recommend good lotion. A kind reader already sent me three tubes of medical-grade moisturizer formulated specifically for skin undergoing radiation, so I’m set!

So here we are. Today, I’m lounging on the beach in Marathon, one of the Florida Keys, where I was blessed to find a great deal on a condo through AirBnB. I’m enjoying the sun and the sand and the water and books. Everything for Christmas is set and ready at home. Gifts are bought and wrapped and waiting, the tree is up and decorated, and my mother-in-law is watering it and taking care of the cat. Today, I’m enjoying the trip that we called a celebration of being done with cancer, before we realized I wouldn’t be quite done with the treatments yet. That’s okay. Today, I’m celebrating anyway. We’ll get back home on the 23rd and jump right into Christmas…and that simulation.

And I’m so grateful. So grateful for this time with my family, for this year that took such an unexpected twist but which poured out so many blessings upon me. So grateful for the medical community that knows how to make me well again. So grateful for the Cancer Institute team who has had my back, laughed at my jokes, and rejoiced with me as we beat this thing.

So here we are. Not the circumstances I ever anticipated finding myself in for Christmas of 2024…but ready to enjoy my Super-Hero Christmas and take this last big step toward living cancer free for years to come.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Holiday History – Gingerbread

Holiday History – Gingerbread

by | Dec 16, 2024 | Holiday History, Word of the Week

Did you know that gingerbread actually has no relation to bread, when we talk about the history of the word itself? It’s true! The original word from Medieval French was actually gingebrat (also spelled gingembrat), and referred to a ginger paste that people used to cook with, which obviously came from ginger.

So where did that –bread ending come from? Well, when gingebrat came into English, its suffix was changed to –bar, still referring to that ginger paste. But over time, what etymologists call “folk etymology” took over–that’s when people change words to make them more familiar. By the 1400s, it had evolved into gingerbrede (earlier spelling of bread) and then to gingerbread and was used in reference to things one might make with that ginger paste–cookies, cakes, and breads especially.

In my family, gingerbread cookies are the fave, but I do enjoy a nice gingerbread cake, like what would have been popular in the day of Christmas at Sugar Plum Manor. Have you tried out the recipe I have for it here on the website?

View the Gingerbread Recipe

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What Christmas Is (and is Not)

What Christmas Is (and is Not)

by | Dec 12, 2024 | Thoughtful Thursdays

I have a friend from my P&P group who has shared with us some reflections of her sons, adopted from Nicuragua. When faced with the possibility of putting together some of the famous Shoeboxes, these boys did not react like she thought they would. She thought they’d be excited at the possibility of giving back in this way, of giving what they themselves had received.

Instead, the boys told her, “These boxes aren’t Christmas. They don’t come on Christmas, and they’re filled with things we might not even want or need. They’re not personal. They’re nice…but they’re not Christmas.”

That sentiment really struck me. Because I too have given a lot of thought to what Christmas isn’t.

Christmas isn’t magical elves.
Christmas can’t be “saved,” because Christmas can’t not happen.
Christmas isn’t gifts.
Christmas isn’t trappings or wrappings.
Christmas isn’t just about family.
Christmas isn’t about us giving to each other.

Christmas is so much more. Christmas is personal. Christmas is the gift. Christmas is nothing we can do, because Christmas is something done for us.

Christmas is miracle, not magic. The joy of heaven come to earth.
Christmas is participating in the original miracle, remembering it and making ourselves part of that history, making it part of us.
Christmas is opening our hearts to the God who became man for us.
Christmas is spreading that news, that joy, singing that song throughout the world.
Christmas is about being part of the family of God, being loved so much by Him that He made us heirs.
Christmas is about what He did for us.

Should we celebrate? Of course! Why would we not celebrate the greatest miracle of all time? Should we give gifts? Generosity is always a good thing, and showing people they’re loved is good too. But gifts can quickly overshadow the true Giver. They can distract us. We can get puffed up over our giving and materialistic with our receiving.

That’s why it’s important, in this season of hustle and bustle, to remember. To prepare our hearts for His coming. To focus FIRST on the divine, and then on the earthly.

Remember what Christmas is…and remember what it isn’t. That’s the real way to “save” Christmas each year.

Holiday History – Sugar-Plums

Holiday History – Sugar-Plums

by | Dec 9, 2024 | Holiday History, Word of the Week

Given the release of Christmas at Sugar Plum Manor this year, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about what sugar plums really are…and what sugar-plums are too.

The original sugar plums are exactly what they sound like–sugared plums. You take dried or preserved plums, roll them in sugar, and bake them at a low temperature for 2 hours. Then take them out, let them cool enough to handle them, roll them again, bake them again…and repeat for a total of 6 or so times, until they’re dense and chewy and covered in crystallized sugar.

This treat has been so popular historically that by the 1600s, the word sugar-plum came to mean ANY sweet treat or confection! So in “The Night Before Christmas,” when visions of sugar-plums are dancing in your head, this could be any candy or holiday treat, not necessarily sugared plums. Same goes for the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Have you ever had actual sugared plums? What’s your favorite holiday sweet treat?

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What the Wise Men Can Teach Us about Taking Risks

What the Wise Men Can Teach Us about Taking Risks

by | Dec 5, 2024 | Ancient World, Holiday History, Holidays, Remember When Wednesdays

Today I’m happy to welcome a guest to the blog! Lana Christian is going to be talking to us a bit about the wise men and the lessons we can still learn from them today, as we celebrate the release of her novel, New Star.

Christmas preparations are underway. Soon venerated Nativity scenes will be pulled out of storage. As a child, I loved setting up our Nativity, nestling the Woolworth figurines in a cardboard box my dad had painted to look like a barn. Of course, the Wise Men were part of the scene, even though the Bible tells us they didn’t visit Jesus until He was about one-and-a-half years old.

There were logistical reasons for that delay. But I digress.

What the Bible doesn’t tell us is the risks the Wise Men took to find Jesus.

A quick Google search can get you a “master class” on how to take risks. Along with the expected advice of having a plan and overcoming fear of failure, standouts in taking “good risks” include: “what matters is how dangerous the risk is” and “start with small risks.”

In other words, don’t put too much on the line.

So we don’t.

We crave short-term results akin to the resolution we can find in a two-hour movie, a three-hour football game, four weeks on a new job. But life is harder … longer … full of doubts, uncertainties, and the dark, in-between times when we can’t tell whether our risk is worth it.

It’s a good thing the Wise Men didn’t have Google when they studied an elusive star that they ultimately linked with prophesies of the eternal child-king, Yeshua. Jesus.

They put everything on the line to find Him.

Although we don’t know where the Wise Men hailed from, the greatest body of evidence points to Persia, which was part of Parthia, one of the two largest superpowers at the dawn of the first century. There the Wise Men held privileged, influential positions within Magi society, serving multiple religions while adhering to their country’s official religion. A religion that influenced everything from their government and health care to ecology and sanitation practices.

The Wise Men did something completely countercultural and counterintuitive in seeking Jesus. They bucked their culture and religion … risked their reputations, careers, and even their lives on a politically charged pursuit with seemingly no chance of success. Why did they do it? To answer those questions, I spent three years researching and writing New Star.

The Wise Men can teach us a lot about taking risks.

  1. Align your convictions with God’s Word and stick to it—even if it means bucking the system (Proverbs 3:5-6).
  2. Don’t be afraid to think big (Isaiah 64:3-4).
  3. Do your part to prepare (research, weigh your options, test what you’re told)—but lean into God’s wisdom and guidance more than your own (1 John 4:1, Philippians 2:13).
  4. Have a plan; expect it to change (Proverbs 19:21).
  5. Walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).
  6. Be confident in God’s ability (Psalm 25:4-5, Joshua 1:9).
  7. Setbacks can be God’s way of setting the stage for a greater victory that honors Him in ways you can’t imagine (Jeremiah 29:11).
  8. When God guides you, your destination is sure. He will accomplish His purposes (Isaiah 46: 10).

Chapter 2 of Matthew’s Gospel gives us twelve verses—a pencil sketch—of those well-educated foreigners. I wrote New Star so people can experience the Wise Men as 3D, real people before and after they find Jesus.

The Wise Men studied the stars and Hebrew writings. But finding Jesus was more than an academic exercise. They sought to know Him. That’s extraordinary because no other religion espoused anything like Judaism’s tenets. God honored those foreigners by making them privy to history’s greatest eternal shift.

Daniel 2:21-22 says if we are wise in the things of God, God will give us more wisdom and greater understanding. May that be true for us as it was with the Wise Men!

Lana Christian is an award-winning author in business and creative writing. In business, she garnered several APEX awards, a patent, a published book, and millions of dollars in grant money for clients. Years of writing manuscripts for physicians and researchers have made her an ace at research, which she leverages in writing biblical fiction. “New Star” is her debut biblical fiction novel and is the first in a series. Lana is an invited guest blogger and writes her own biweekly devotional blog, “Encouragement from Living History.” Since 2019, she has won six faith-based writing awards, including one from Baker Publishing Group for her short story about Lot. Her greatest desire is that readers have an immersive experience from her stories.

Learn more at LanaChristian.com

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