Christmas

Clearly, I am a horrible blogger. I have all of these things in my head that I want to say and then never quite seem to take the time to put them on "paper". I think that my answer will be the blogger ap on the iphone 4 that I now have but that's a discussion for another day. This post is about Christmas.

Our celebration of Christmas was a little bit dialed back this year. There was less craziness, fewer presents and maybe a little less stress. I actually hand made some gifts so it's a good thing that it is the thought that counts. While it was a bit of struggle to remember to keep the fun, magical part of Christmas alive for the 5 year old, it was also a blessing to have the lil to remind us of that magic. It was our first year with the Elf on the Shelf. Tate was so sad and confused that his friends at school had Elves and he didn't, it was a Must Do. Our Elf, Zip, was not a naughty Elf. Once or twice he knocked a couple of things over when landing but he didn't make messes or do crazy things in the night. He was a well behaved Elf who did his job. He kept watch on the kids to report back to Santa each night as to the Naughty or Nice status. He was a good behavior reinforcer. And Tate was amused daily by his landing spots and yelled more than once "Do NOT touch him! His Magic will wear off!" Along with his Christmas countdown chain, Christmas crafts and projects from school, his Holiday Concert at school, his daily revised Wish List, Zip the Elf and Tate brought the magic of Christmas in to a house full of teens.

Though the gift giving portion of Christmas was more mellow this year than in years past, I think that the kids got most of what they wished for and enjoyed the day. We also were able to gather some goodies and gifts for another family which is always more fun than getting gifts. The middles went and worked at the Auburn Christmas Basket which is a program for families in need. They had fun and, I hope gained a bit of perspective. Of course I had some moments leading up to the big day that were stressful and some times when I wanted to strangle them with my bare hands, but mostly they are great kids who understand that it is more fulfilling to give than to receive.

Christmas Eve was the usual gathering at my parent's house. Friends, family (and anyone who walks in the door) are welcomed and included in the games, laughter, food and gifting. My sister organized a musical number (Silent Night). She played piano, Tanner, Josh & my Dad played guitar, I played flute, Chase accompanied her on the piano, Chloe sang and Kaleb played some percussion. It was lovely and silly at the same time. A little unusual for the night was the fact that we didn't read the story of Christ's birth from the Bible and we didn't have the kids dressed up as the players in that story. There were sick kids and sleeping kids and kids that have gotten a bit big to be cute shepherds. Part of the reason, though, is because we are usually grasping to make sure that the spiritual is not lost in the celebration of the day. This year we did not worry about it because Christmas Day was on a Sunday and we would all be heading to church to celebrate and worship.

I enjoyed the fact that we had church in the middle of the day on Christmas. We were able to wake up and open presents and have breakfast together. Then we put on our church clothes and went to the church building to sit together as a family and be spiritually fed through word and song on the day that we set aside to celebrate the birth of our Saviour. There was no chance of "forgetting" Christ this Christmas because on Sunday we did what we do pretty much every Sunday. We went to church, learned about Him and renewed our covenants. It was a blessing to have Christmas on the Sabbath and I enjoyed it. After church many of us gathered at my house, ate and played games. At the end of the day, we watched The Nativity Story as another reminder of why we were celebrating at all.

"Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

There are enough bad tidings of great sorrow. Thankfully, they are all overcome by the good tidings of which the angels spoke and the joy is for all people. I think that we capture a little bit of it on Christmas, glimpse just a teeny bit of the Love as we gather and serve and remember to keep Christ in Christmas. I certainly felt blessed to understand the magnitude of the Gift given to me. Many times over the course of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I also thought to myself how blessed I am in the people who are my friends and family. The trick is to keep feeling that as we head back to "real" life.