WELCOME

Christmas Eve....the day before Christmas!  I honestly can't believe it's here.  Where has the time gone?  In my own life, I somewhat "missed a week" a couple of weeks ago when my daddy was very sick.  Before I knew it, here is today.  Christmas Eve.

I've spent most of the day today in food preparation and gift wrapping.  No, I'm not preparing a big meal, just a small one.  No, all my gifts are still not wrapped and yes, it's Christmas Eve late afternoon.  The Husband and I spent an hour or two at the church making preparations for the Christmas Eve service tonight.  Yes, it's his turn.  Here on Christmas Eve that has arrived quickly.

Even though Christmas has "snuck" up on me this year, I can truthfully say that the real meaning of the event hasn't escaped my thoughts.  Most years I purchase Christmas cards after Christmas for the great sale prices.  I always like to find those that tell the REAL story of Christmas just in case some receivers haven't heard.  I was shopping a few weeks ago and found another box of cards that I felt I had to have.  Let me preface this card a bit with some commentary.

Not knowing the premier date of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" but certain I was alive and saw the premier, I can pretty much tell you all the lines in this special television seasonal event.  It is such a seasonal "staple" that even The Pastor mentioned it in his Sunday sermon last Sunday.  The Girl has a Peanuts nativity.  It's that big of a deal.  Anyways, for all these years I have loved the part where all the kids are dancing around and Charlie asks "Doesn't anyone know what Christmas is all about?"  Linus speaks up and says that he does, then proceeds to recite the whole KJV version of Luke 2.  Gives.  Me. Chills.  Every single time.  And even more so now that I've aged and have experienced the REAL meaning of Christmas in my own life.  So with that said, here's my cards:

I love them!

When The Husband and I were headed out together the other morning, we had on the radio station called The Fish.  One of my new favorite Christmas songs began to play.  I got all blessed over and over again just riding down the road with The Husband.  Listening to the words of that song made me ever so thankful that I know the Holy Child and that HE IS MY SAVIOR!  I want to share the words of this song with you and hope that, even if you might not know the tune of the song, you will be blessed by the words.  Think on them and rejoice!  The song is "Welcome to our World" and goes like this:

Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised, we've been waiting

Welcome Holy Child
Welcome Holy Child

Hope that you don't mind our manger
How I wish we would have known
But long-awaited Holy Stranger
Make Yourself at home
Please make Yourself at home

Bring Your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
Word now breaking Heaven's silence

Welcome to our world
Welcome to our world

Fragile finger sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born
Unto us is born

So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy

Perfect Son of God
Perfect Son of God
Welcome to our world

Just the words of that song give me chills all over again.  And THAT'S what Christmas is all about!

Merry, merry CHRISTmas!

TREASURES

In the past, I have actually done Christmas decorating before Thanksgiving.  On occasion.  It has always been done by the day after Thanksgiving.  Until this year.  I can't seem to catch up.  Here I am on December 3 finishing decorating.  I decided this year to cut back on my decorating a bit, then had a hard time deciding what to leave in the box.

The decorating process today has set my mind into deep thought.   I have smiled a bit, cried a bit, and felt thankful a lot.  I've realized that the tree ornaments and even other decorations really hold many memories, both good and bad, and represent different stages of life.

My tree decorations remind me of many things.

As a young girl, I loved playing with my Midge doll.  Now many of you might not remember Midge as being Barbie's good friend.  In my house her dress was pink instead of blue as on the ornament I have but it was made the same.  She had the same straw hat, straw bag, and the same bangs and continuous curl hair style. On my Midge, which I still have, one side of the curls has been cut.   One day I wondered how she would look without the curls.  I got my scissors and found out.    I so loved Midge and wished to look just like her....with continuous, not cut curls, around the whole bottom of my hair.    As we know, if wishes were horses, everyone would be riding.  I learned to be happy with how I was.

Special ornaments on our tree remind The Husband and me of our first Christmas together.  One is dated, the others are not.  That first Christmas I remember buying a package of wooden cutout ornaments that we had to paint.  And yes, I remember The Husband helping paint those along with a friend who was visiting.  That was when The Husband was young and foolish and didn't know he didn't have to help.  We always mention those ornaments every year and while they might have seemed unimportant a few years between then and now, they have grown into priceless ones this day.  I plan to let The Girl choose some for her tree.  Every tree needs antiques.

The special priceless treasures on my tree were made by the small childish hands of The Girl.  I just get all warm and fuzzy every year that I put them on the tree--one made from a piece of sandpaper, the other from popcorn.  And believe me, I've been putting these certain ones on the tree for about thirty years now and the warm and fuzzy feeling grows with every passing year.

There are ornaments that remind me of the blessing of family with many from The Sister.  Some call attention to sisterhood and that reminds me of the times when we were young and the blessing now that we are older of sister friendship, even though we are years apart in age.  Maybe my sister sees me as "angelic", suppose?  Maybe some days so, maybe others not so much.

There are ornaments that remind me friendship such as this one that says "A friend is a partner in life's merry moments" to which I would say now that a friend is such in those not-so-merry-moments as well....the gift of real friendship.  And notice the date....1984?  How many years ago was that?  Seems like yesterday but alas, was not.

Many ornaments on my tree were given to me by children that I was blessed to work with at our church.   There are too many to count....both children and ornaments.  They are all special...both children and ornaments.

The Mother-In-Law moved to heaven almost ten years ago.  How times flies!  There are ornament treasures on our tree that belonged to her and hung on her tree when The Husband was even a child.  Every year that we hang them, our memories draw her even closer in heart.

And then there are those that tell us all the true meaning of Christmas....the birth of our Lord!  What a wonderful gift to us all that He is!

This one is not your typical ornament but speaks volumes and was giving to me by a couple of sweet young guys.  It reminds me of one of my Christmas cards this year that said "The wise men followed the star to the Light of the World."  That saying gave me chills.  He is a BIG light in a very dark world.
I would like to shine His light brighter every day.

There are, of course, other decorations that are special to me....the macaroni Christmas tree, our first Christmas as a family photo, and the others such as these.  The family photo makes me smile when I consider our "style" in clothing.  The Husband loved that shirt of his and my glasses were very large.  And my grandma's couch was very decoratively stylish for that particular decade, wasn't it?

When The Girl and The Son-In-Law married, I passed along to her the angel tree topper we had used since she came to our family.  It's not the prettiest, but it's special.  I also took time the other day to tie 24 pieces of candy on a cross stitched banner I made for her many, many years ago.  It has a Santa and a cute verse and counts down the days until Christmas.  It has been hung and counted down Christmas every year since I made it.  She was just three years old or so when I made it.  I noticed it yesterday in her house.  Many see a pretty unique piece of decoration when they look, but to me I see something different.  I remember cross-stitching that at a very sad time in my life....a time of such grief and lack of understanding of God's plan for me and for our family.  That sewing process was what I needed to help me through that.  Now when I look at that piece, a simple cross-stitched piece, I am reminded that I don't have to know "The Plan".  I don't have to understand why bad things happen to people who really try to do right.  I don't have to worry about the "what ifs" of life.  That piece of cross stitching represents hope to me.   All I have to do is trust my Lord and Savior who was born that night so long ago.   That young Joseph and Mary didn't really know "The Plan" either, but they were willing to trust.  I can do that, too.  How grateful I am that I have reminders even in that cross-stitched piece to keep that reinforced.

So treasures on my tree and in my decorations?  Ah....so, so many.  But more than that are the treasures in my heart and the blessings in my life that they represent.  I am one blessed girl!

Amen!