Ahh… I just woke up from a nap. Yes. An actual nap. The kind where you sleep. We have had a wonderful whirlwind of activity that past week and a half, and I have thoroughly enjoyed and savored every sweet moment of it. But oh I love that delicious feeling of the first “normal” day after a week or so of excitement. We have partied, celebrated, and feasted. We have traveled, laughed, given and received. I have enjoyed this holiday season more than any other in my life. And today I’m thankful finally for a day to sit back and actually reflect on all we’ve done. I can’t move on to the new year without processing it all. It’s almost as if the enjoyment isn’t complete until you reflect upon it a little. Anyone else like that? So, today as I lounge in my hooded sweatshirt for these last 30 minutes of naptime, here are my reflections from our sweet celebrations.
- Misplaced expectations always lead to disappointment. Though I can’t believe it now, I actually said to Jeff, at about 8:30am on Christmas morning, “I think this might be the worst Christmas.” Isn’t that horrible? I’m ashamed of myself now. You know the problem? I had unfair expectations of my kids. I was so excited with all our fun traditions and ways to spotlight Jesus, but as any of you moms know, nothing ever goes as planned when little ones are in the mix. And, as some of you know, my little Dutcher doesn’t do well with new, unfamiliar, or chaotic circumstances. So when I wanted to do the oh-so-fun morning search to find baby Jesus, he sat on the couch and cried because all he wanted to do was play with the toys he’d gotten for his birthday 3 days before. (It is tricky having bday and Christmas so close. After not opening a single gift all year it’s like gift-gluttany all in one week.) Anyway, we just had a rocky morning and nothing was going “as planned”. Of course all it took was a good reminder to myself of another young mom, who also didn’t have Christmas morning go “as planned.” I can only imagine that Mary felt a tad bit stressed out when her “birthplan” could not be followed, huh ladies? Praise the Lord that she was able to adapt and praise God and despite her circumstances because she was doing divine work… as we all are in some way or other. Lesson for me? Beware of expectations. Our traditions should serve our family for the Lord’s sake, we shouldn’t force our families to serve our traditions. Oh thank You, God for Your grace for us!
- Giving Gets our eyes off ourselves. Ok, I know that Christmas has gotten very commercialized and materialistic, but I still LOVE to give gifts. I love it. We don’t spend much, but I have so much fun giving people things and this year was no exception. I actually think the highlight of my entire holiday was Christmas morning when we visited our Twelve Days of Christmas Family. We had secretly delivered little items on the porch of a family for the 12 days before Christmas, and since I thought they knew who we were we decided to deliver the Christmas morning cinnamon rolls in the daylight and go ahead and say hello and wish them a Merry Christmas. Well when I approached the door they all came running out and “caught” us and it was the most fun, hilarious thing ever. They had put out a special gift for the “Stealthy Christmas Angel Ninja” (their words), and shared how they didn’t know who it was and had been asking around everywhere if anyone knew who the Christmas Ninja was who managed to sneak onto their porch each day. 🙂 (In fact, Jeff overheard someone at church asking someone else, “Are you the Christmas Ninja who’s been visiting the ——‘s house?” Haha!) Anyway, we all laughed so hard recalling our efforts to be sneaky and their efforts to catch us. There was no way I could remain in my ridiculous funk after that encounter. Of course the rest of the gift giving was so fun too. What better way to get our eyes off ourselves than to pray and plan and thoughtfully prepare gifts (or acts of service, etc.) for other people. I love it!
- 40 Years of Marriage Speaks Volumes. So in the midst of Dutch’s birthday and several Christmas celebrations, we also had the joy of celebrating my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary. Wow! Thoughts on this deserve an entire post all their own, so there’s more on that later. But, suffice it to say that my parents’ marriage is the most profound example of God’s plan for marriage that I have ever seen. I can’t even begin to express how thankful I am to have a mom and dad who are committed to Christ and each other. Through thick and thin. And right now, through some very challenging health issues, they are joyful, loving, and the best of friends. Ok, gotta stop there or I will cry and I only have 5 more minutes until naptime is over. Mom and Dad, you are the best. Thank you.
- Celebrations are worth it. All I mean by this is that the past few weeks have been a great reminder to me that celebrations are worth the effort. I used to love throwing parties and going all out and making occasions really special for people. But as the years have gone by (and children have come!), I have definitely made SIMPLE the key goal in all things. And of course I do believe simple is best. I certainly will continue keeping simplicity and frugality as pretty chief goals. But we had the joy of throwing a big Christmas party to host friends of my brother and his wife’s since they live out of state (but used to live here). I never would have done it without my sister-in-law’s nudge or help, but I was so glad we did. Our house was packed, the place was chaos, and the day after it looked like a tornado had hit. But you know what? It was so worth it. Although we’re not very fancy or sophisticated people we went as “all out” as I ever do (which pretty much just means punch bowls and china and lots of food), but it was so wonderful and I’d do it all over again … in a year or so. 🙂 It reminded me that while yes, it is easier to use paper plates–the precious people in my life are worth celebrating, and it was a joy to do it. I’m thankful for the reminder … and for the leftovers. 🙂
So naptime is over, and I think I can now look forward to 2011, having processed our wonderful whirlwind of holiday festivities. Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift! (2 Cor 9:15) He is so generous, and we are so thankful.