A Flurry in a Hurry

Hey Y'all!

Well, January has closed her door to what was a very busy, crazy, hectic, wonderful month at the Knight household! Life was definitely a "Flurry in a Hurry" for me! Lets see....New years holiday and finishing up "Christmasing"...."Un-Christmasing"....A Women's Ministry Event to coordinate...Returning to College...Tech week for THE FANTASTICKS....a nine day AMAZING run of THE FANTASTICKS...cast parties..homework?!..FLT Endowment Gala committee duties....and the list goes on :)

But I love it.

Oh...and one of the coolest things about this January, was picking out my Christmas present from my wonderful husband! He sent me flowers with a precious, sweet note attached saying I could pick out whatever car I wanted :) He did say "brand negotiable"...but hey...I am a GREAT negotiator! SO, last week I drove off the lot with a brand new Palladium Silver Mercedes Benz E350. (Told ya I was a good negotiator.)

There are so many amazing things about the car. It was a "launch edition"....which means it has all the bells and whistles. Navigation, integrated phone, heated seats, MASSAGING seats, push button ignition....need I go on? Alas, I must tell you about my most favorite part....It has Sirius radio! I am SERIOUS. I am addicted!! I could just sit in that puppy and listen to music all day and all night. I am lovin' me some 70's and 80's tunes. Fleetwood Mac, Jefferson Starship, England Dan and John Ford Coley, Paul McCartney and Wings, Journey, Bread, Peaches and Herb, Prince, Eagles, and The Stones..and so many more! It amazes me how many memories came flooding back...just by hearing those familiar tunes that have been pretty much absent from my listening vocabulary over the last two decades!

Music has always acted as a direct portal to my soul. It speaks to me. All kinds of music.

Now many of you know that Mark and I had the amazing opportunity to sign with a small record label in the early 90's...to tour...to write and perform our own music....and it was an incredible opportunity...stressful, yes...but a beautiful blessing all the same. Because we were in the Contemporary Christian genre, our venues were mainly large churches and small arenas, such a conference centers or retreats...but no secular music "allowed" type gigs. Now I could get on my soap box....(maybe on a different post)...but for whatever reason...with the inception of all of that in my life...I was listening less and less to secular radio.

Don't get me wrong...there has yet to be a secular song that speaks to my heart to the depths that many hymns and contemporary worship pieces have and continue to do! Let me say, "The Revelation Song" brings me to the feet of Jesus like no other song I have ever heard or had the opportunity to share.....so, I am a huge fan. These songs minister to the part of me who longs to be a better, more genuine follower of Christ. And that is a good thing!

But what about those parts of me that God created, also for His glory...like romance (I do dig my husband with selfless abandon...and NOT just because he gives me great Christmas gifts.)....What about other relationships...life circumstances...conflicts....even, purple rain :) I have theme songs I have adopted along my earthly journey for those nooks and crannies of my life as well, and I have been gently reminded of them this week as I have taken the time to sit and listen.

With all the reminiscing, I can't help but be reminded that it was not just January 2010 that seemed to fly by.....but the last 30 years as well!! And while, yes...I admit...that I am quite often that "Flurry in a Hurry"....my hope and prayer is that in a few of the seasons I have passed, that I have, in the very least, left a beautiful blanket of snow that has helped others to stop and revel in His glory...even if just for a limited time.

Until next time....If you get passed on the highway by a beautiful silver "flurry in a hurry"...it just might be me.....and hopefully, there will be no blue lights flashing behind it :)

Wishing you all a BLIZZARD of BLESSINGS!

~Scarlett

New Cashmere Socks and Grace

The unspoken rule of Christmas gift giving in the Knight household has always been that everyone in the house has to get new socks and/or underwear for Christmas. I know, not very fancy, but incredibly useful! They are things we need everyday, but seldom does anyone opt to go out and purchase socks and underwear for themselves....unless it is an emergency...or sometimes if we are packing for vacation, I will use that summer opportunity to augment the sock/undie supply to tide us over until Christmas!

Maybe I brought the tradition over from my extended family. We always knew there were socks and underwear wrapped up under the tree. My Mom made her annual Christmas run to Tomlinson's Wholesale every December.....the best place, according to her, to get the best socks for the best price. All the guys got black and blue and brown dress socks. The girls got either panties, slips or half-slips from the Tomlinson's lingerie department. It was a given. It was expected. And not a single Christmas, while she was still living, did she fail to come through!

This year, I got the most comfy, colorful cashmere socks....and they were pink! So by simply opening the gift and getting a glimpse of the regal, rosy shade, I knew the contents of that package definitely started out on the right foot. (Pardon the sock pun!) I put them on with my new PJ's, and stayed in them most of the day. Such warmth, and comfort. I felt, beautiful, snug, secure and at ease in my nifty new socks. Made me wonder why I only got new ones once a year!

Later in the afternoon, tucked in my recliner, having my quiet time....Yep, I thanked God, among other things, for the new socks. My thought process being that if He supplies the little things, then I should give thanks for them too! It also made me think about the amazing love He has for us, the incredible forgiveness He offers us, and how....like the Knight family sock/underwear tradition....that some folks only experience relationship with Him at Christmas....or in case of emergency :)

God's wonderful gift of grace is accessible every minute of everyday....yet many folks, for whatever reason, opt not to wrap themselves in it often. Talk about feeling at peace, secure and warm! Even my new, fancy pink socks pale in comparison to the gift of His grace.

So again, this year at Christmas, I got new socks. And again, this morning, I got another chance to wrap up in His amazing grace! I'm covered from head to toe....and I like it that way!

Hope you all got what you wanted for Christmas! But more importantly, I hope that you accept what you are offered daily from the child who was born on that day.

Cashmere and Jesus Y'all!
~Scarlett

Oh, Christmas Tree...OH CHRISTMAS TREE !!!!

Yuletide Greetings Y'all! I know I kinda, sorta said I was taking a blogging vacation until after the hustle and bustle....and mainly our huge Christmas Production was over.....BUT.....I forgot about the following article I was asked to write for SHE! Magazine....so here ya go!



Oh, Christmas Tree.....OH! CHRISTMAS TREE !

When we were building our home in 2001, Mark and I disagreed on only one thing…..the ceiling height of our “great room”. The house plans called for an open foyer and an open great room in the center of the house. A suspended catwalk would be the only thing dividing the two massive areas. Mark thought it was a huge waste of space to have the great room open….that would mean a 24x20 foot room, with ceilings 22 feet high…..hard to cool, hard to heat, especially since the whole back wall is pretty much nothing but glass. (And deep in his heart, he really wanted to floor in the top half to make a game room, so he could have a pool table.) But I really loved the idea of the vastness and openness of it all. Long story short…I won. Well, actually we compromised. I kept the open room, and I agreed that he could put a pool table in the small den off the kitchen.

We moved in the week of Thanksgiving, and I began decorating for Christmas immediately. Now let me just emphasize that I LOVE Christmas….I am talking REALLY LOVE it….decorating for Christmas is a passion I have. We’re talking 4 full size trees, 2 life size Santas, 50 sleighs, and gobs of other decorations! I would rather decorate for Christmas than open gifts…..for real y’all….I just love it! It takes me an entire week to “Deck My Halls”!

Just one problem…..when you have a large room with 22 foot ceilings, a normal size tree looks pitiful. So for the next several years, the trees kept getting larger and taller. As of Christmas 2004 every tree choice still looked rather dwarfed.
In October of 2005 I got a flyer in the mail from a Christmas tree farm in NC, and they were taking orders for trees to be delivered the day after Thanksgiving. They said they could get ANY size tree. REEEALLLLLY?? The paper only had prices listed for up to 12-14 foot trees, but had a number to call for “Special Order” trees. So I called. I explained my situation to the kind gentleman, and he said that he could definitely get me a taller tree, possibly up to 18 feet tall! My jolly, yuletide obsessed heart skipped a beat! Finally, I would have a tree for my great room that would complement its size!

There was no shopping for me the day after Thanksgiving that year. No way. I stood guard at the front door….waiting anxiously like a 4 year old on Christmas Eve….with so much anticipation of grandeur in my heart that I could hardly stand it!! At 4:00pm, my door bell rang. It was finally here! I ran outside in my sock clad feet, no time to put on shoes….I wanted to see it. It was hanging slightly off the end of an extremely long utility trailer.... She was a beauty! It took 4 men to back her into my front door. It took about an hour to get her up in the special stand….but WOW! There she stood, and although her branches were still tied up in netting, I could tell she was a BIG tree. We had to anchor her to the open cat walk for stability….she was SOOOO tall.

Now to put things in perspective, the pool table that was originally in the den off the kitchen, over the four year period, migrated to the “great room”, which at this point was called the “pool room”. (That’s right. Being the upstanding, respectable Baptists that we are, when you open our front door….there it sits….a pool table. I guess Mark really won that battle after all!) So, there was small sitting area on the fireplace side, a pool table in the center, leaving practically half of the room for the tree.

When the netting was released, the branches quickly fell……and they were touching the pool table. So we trimmed it back some. Being the self proclaimed “Christmas tree Officiatto” that I am, I knew the branches needed to be left, at least over night, to relax before any decorating could commence. I hardly slept. Bright and early Saturday, I awoke to the ever sweet aroma that only comes from a live tree. I quickly got dressed and rushed to the great room, and was greeted by quite a site! The tree had definitely “relaxed”. We had branches, across the pool table, past the center of the room! I am talking HUGE! Mark and the kids and I laughed hysterically for hours! I ended up calling my friend Bert Floyd to come help me decorate…..he brought his team….he even had to call for back up with taller ladders! He said he had NEVER seen a tree that large, and I believe him.

It was an exciting holiday with folks visiting most everyday to see “the tree”. The guy we purchased it from, stopped back by to see it decorated, and while he was there, he told us she was the “sister tree” to the tree that was put into the White House that year! We took lots of photos; other folks took photos….no one was able to get the entire tree in one photo shot! We finally figured out how to put two photos together to show the whole tree….but the photo really did not do her justice. She was as beautiful as she was big.

It took five of us and a chain saw to take her down. It was kind of sad really. She had acquired a personality all her own, and for that Christmas season was definitely a member of our family. We have not been able to find another tree quite so magnificent, but her memory will be forever etched in our minds and in our hearts.

Oh, Christmas tree…..Oh, Christmas tree…..your branches are so loverly…..

Happy Ho, Ho, Hoing Y'all!
~Scarlett

Christmas Vacation

The past few days have me scratchin' my noggin'
How to get it all done, and still keep on bloggin'
Been trimming five trees and decking the halls
Got Christmasy things all over my walls

Been building the sets for the upcoming show
Gathering the costumes, with props still in tow
Trusting the lights and the sound to the pros
Just hoping they're able to get me some snow

Been trying to take time to make me list
Keep fearing there's something important I've missed
Cause one day of shopping is not near enough
To gather the presents and wrap all the stuff

What was I was thinking, must of had a brain-farty
When I offered to host the work Christmas party
There a wedding and a birthday amidst all the fuss
As if all of the other was not quite enough

Just glad we're all well, and able to bustle
Cause to get it all done, we will all have to hustle
So don't think I've kicked it if posts don't appear
I promise to catch up the first of the year

Happy Holiday's Y'all!
~Scarlett