I remember...

I have a lot to catch up on, but first I wanted to post something that has been on my mind and heart lately. I love Christmas! I love the decorations. I love the gifts. I love the busy-ness of it. I love the food. I love the magical. I love the crazy. I love all the different dynamics of it.

 

When I think back to childhood Christmas', I can't remember one particular thing I got for Christmas. I can't remember ever being disappointed about "stuff", although I am sure I was. I can't remember learning Santa wasn't real or doubting in God because of it. I can't speak for my brothers or my sister, although I imagine their memories are very similar to mine.

 

I want to share what I can remember...

 

I remember waking up each Christmas morning so excited. It really was so very exciting.

I remember sitting around the living room while each member of our family opened a gift one at a time.(We still do this!) We each celebrated the gifts each other received. We were all truly excited for what the other was getting. (We still do.) You can see it in our faces in pictures of Christmas' past and in person each Christmas now.

I remember "special" gifts my brothers and sister got. Gifts like a China State jersey Drew received as an inside joke, a hunting gun that Cameron had to hunt the house for, and a dollhouse that "Santa" put the middle floor on upside down.

I remember laughing. Oh, do I remember laughing! Actually I am laughing thinking about some of the things we laughed about.

 

I remember filling the kitchen counters with homemade candy and cookies.

 

I remember my sister loving her clothes she received so much that she changed into them right then and there.

 

I remember staying up and playing games and with our new things together until way after the gifts were opened. 

 

I remember being late to Mimi and Pa's Christmas morning because we were all so excited we wouldn't stop playing or being silly to get ready. My parents probably don't think this is a positive memory. ;o

I remember love, not because we had x number of gifts, but because we were all together.

 

I remember Gary taking me shopping by myself one day on Christmas break. He let me choose gifts for each sibling. He also treated me to a special lunch.

 

I remember each year there was a little money in our stockings. When you opened the envelop instead of saying from Santa, it said from Mom and Gary. I remember laughing every year that "Santa" made a mistake.

 

I remember loading in the car and going to Opryland hotel or just driving around to look at Christmas lights.

 

I remember my sister and I wrapping up "our stuff" in our room and giving it to our aunt and grandparents.

I remember giving, whether it was bread mom made, fruit baskets to the elderly, candy to friends, or an angel tree child. I remember giving.

 

I think you get the picture. I remember the love. I remember the togetherness. I remember the magic. I remember the fun. For me, it wasn't about the stuff, although there was always a lot of stuff. It didn't revolve around the stuff. We didn't open the stuff and the disperse into our own lives. We stayed together. We shared.  We felt loved, we felt like a family.

I still look forward to Christmas with my family each year. I wish I could explain the joy that fills my parents house when we are all there. We aren't perfect. There are usually some crazy moments involving tears, attitudes, and teasing, but it doesn't last long. The joy prevails.

The love fills. The laughter overwhelms.

 

This wasn't only the feeling at Christmas time. This is the way I remember family vacations, dinners, and nights at home. We didn't have 6 different lives and only came together on Christmas. We had lives that were spent together. We included the whole family the whole year. We didn't put on a special family show during Christmas, this is just the way our family was, our family is. We love. We stick together, even when we are hundreds of miles apart.

Caleb and I do Christmas big! With lots of love, family, giving, parties, lights, decorations, and laughter. I want my children to have similar memories, not ones that surround stuff. For me, the holidays aren't dreaded, overdone, and commercialized. I think they can be, but I don't think they have to be. They give me a reason to celebrate what I already have: a forgiving, loving savior, family, love, health, life, time together, and each other, etc. It is time to develop/grow relationships, give to others, and, most importantly, spread love as God has loved us. These are things I hope to do all year, not just for a season.

 

 

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Luke 12:34

 

Merry Christmas!!!