New York City Awaits!

We are off for David's long-awaited birthday trip to NYC. Our bags are (mostly) packed, our house is quiet, Jillian is on her way to Georgia and Kylie is curled up watching a movie. Life seems good right now. I think "All is Calm, All is Bright" applies to the days after Christmas!

Speaking of Christmas, we had a wonderful one. God had a sweet surprise lined up for me. Remember in my last post, when I said that I was sad because there would be no surprises from my Daddy? Well I was wrong. My mother chose to pass on a beautiful gold and diamond cross that my Daddy had given her. So there was jewelry under my tree from my father. Isn't that just like God to surprise us with a heart's desire? I got other beautiful jewelry this Christmas, too, but this piece spoke to a spot deep inside me that needed to remember I was the apple of someone's eye. Thank you, Mom, for knowing the right time to pass that treasure on to me.

Quiet Christmas Moments

Have you ever noticed that each Christmas takes on a life of its own? Each year we start out with the best of intentions. THIS year we will wrap the banister with perfect lights. This year we will fill the house with the smell of molasses cookies, or turkey, or ham. This year we will slow down and enjoy the sounds of the season. Some years do indeed live up to their magical promises. Other years surprise us with new thoughts, smells, and sounds. Christmas memories we never expected.

Three years ago our Christmas was unexpectedly filled with the sounds and smells of Dad's hospital room as he fought his last battle with Kidney Cancer. It was not a Christmas I would have chosen for myself, but surely Daddy's last Christmas with me is precious beyond compare. I can still see the string of holiday lights hanging in our hotel window and taste the room service chicken fingers and chocolate fudge sundaes. I remember the strange disappointment I had at realizing there would be no "surprise" jewelry gifts from Dad that year, and the surge of pleasure at seeing his familiar writing on the money envelopes hanging off the tree...an old tradition. It was a bone-crunching, hard Christmas. I wouldn't want to repeat it and I wouldn't want to trade it.

This Christmas, too, is surprising me. We have another family of four living and celebrating with us before they move to Georgia. We love this family, and I am so grateful to have them here. But eight people living in this house is maxing us out! I've given up on having a perfect house, or even enough clean towels around. But the reward is having time together: unhurried time to share things we'd forgotten to talk about before. This isn't our normal Christmas, but I have a feeling that in a few years I'll realize that I wouldn't trade it for anything, either.

I don't want to hurry this day. So my prayer for me and for you tonight is that we find ourselves fully experiencing whatever Christmas we find ourselves in this year. Slow down and welcome the changes. Surprise yourself.