Christmas Notebook

Christmas morning is done, the Story read, the presents opened, the gift wrap scattered across the floor, the family happy and satisfied…and I…I’m a
little sad. Happens every year, sometime after the morning’s festivities. Everyone is enjoying their gifts, watching new DVDs, playing new games, working a puzzle, or eating another treat. But, basically, it’s over for another year. That part makes me sad because I love this time of year so much. The decorations, the parties, the friends and family, the fun and the glitter and the sparkle…the endless wonder of it all.

But, for all the loss I feel when it’s over, I still take the best part with me throughout the year to come…the best gift of all…God’s great Love, the gift of His only Son, the faith and everlasting life He has given me as a free and undeserved gift. I hope you know the same joy and the same presence of God in your own life. It’s the only real and lasting Gift.

DS#2 and DDIL were here for Christmas Eve and we exchanged gifts with them, after popping the crackers DD#1 brought home with her. Paper crowns and funny gifts…we all had fun with that!

DS and DDIL opened their stockings. We saved ours for Christmas morning.

Looking for Christmas jams…traditionally, the kids open their Christmas pjs on Christmas Eve. It’s always fun to watch them try to guess which package holds the jammies.

Later in the evening, after opening presents, DS and DDIL went on to her parents’ home, less than two hours away. On Christmas morning, minus their boxes, the tree still looked ready for gift-giving.

Christmas Day in our home starts with breakfast. That means DH makes pancakes. If DS#2 is here, it also means apple dumplings. Yum! DH’s pancakes are always a hit. Any time he makes pancakes, he asks for requests. What will the kids ask him to make?? This year it was a camel and a penguin, among others. I guessed they were a dinosaur and a pork chop…hmmm… By his own admission, the penguin was not his best effort. But that’s part of the fun. 🙂

After Christmas breakfast, and before gifts, DH always reads the account of Christ’s birth from Luke 2:1-20. He likes to read it from the old pulpit Bible we were given by his parents. It is from a local church founded in 1838, but no longer standing. The church’s adjoining cemetery is still there and many of DH’s relatives are buried there.

We take turns opening gifts, one by one. DD#3 surrounded herself with her presents while she waited her turn.

The “after…” Buttercup thinks the leftover gift wrap is left there just for her own amusement.

I hope your own Christmas celebrations were all you hoped they would be. And I pray your coming year is full of the grace and security of God’s great Love. ~~Rhonda