Christmas

I love Christmas, I love the lights, the beautiful decorations, the Christmas music,the cookies, the family gathering, the giving, the snow and cold (well, before moving to the desert that is), but most of all I love that Christmas is a celebration! A celebration of the birth of a tiny baby oh, so many years ago!  Now I know that Christmas is not the Christ child's actual birth date, but it is the day on which his birth is celebrated and that is just fine with me!  I had planned for so many things this year for Christmas, and as plans often do most of them just did not happen.  I am sad that so many of the great activities didn't happen, I am sad that our outside decorations never made it up, I am sad that we do not have a large selection of cookies to munch, but most of all I am sad that these things are making me sad. 

See, I know, and my children know that Christmas is not about any of these things, they know that the most important thing at Christmas is to remember that God sent his son, as a tiny baby boy, to save the world from their sins!  Yet it bothers me that the worldly activities of Christmas have not been completed.  Why?  Why am I bothered that we neglected certain things?  Why am I bothered that instead of these worldly activities I spent time with my children making crafts that we were able to hang in the house, that instead of baking and decorating we chose to snuggle up on the sofa and read Christmas stories each day?  I guess I am bothered because I remember my Christmases as a child and I want my children to experience those.  Yet I know that I have grown since then, and that what we did do this year was enjoyable for them and that tomorrow morning they will be spoiled just as they always are, that tomorrow morning they will have presents under the tree (which is decorated), that tomorrow morning they will spend hours tearing off paper, oohing and ahhing, and playing with the toys, books, and games that are wrapped and hidden in my closet.  Tomorrow morning they will be having so much fun they'll forget to eat breakfast and will be munching cookies on the way to Grandpa and Grandma's house where they will open yet more presents, and play with yet more toys, and eventually sit down to enjoy a wonderful meal with those that love them most! 

I feel better already!  Just writing this out, and listening to God as I do has made me realize that we really did keep the spirit of Christmas in our hearts, we just chose to do it differently this year, and that's ok. 

How did your family spend the days leading up to Christmas?  Do tell!