Christmas Ramblings

Merry Christmas to all!

A few noteworthy things...sorry for the stream of consciousness, but I did say "ramblings", didn't I?

First, Christmas is all hustle and go.  Our Pastor recently remarked that people are so nice on December first; positively filled with the Christmas spirit.  By the 24th, that spirit has faded away at best.  It returns to our dog eat dog world.  Kill or be killed.  We are consumers, driven by a lust for that special something to surprise our overly spoiled kids.  They have to have the newest, fastest, coolest, most expensive whatever to win their little hearts and minds.  Right??  We are ready to snap and our credit cards are ready to ignite from the whirl of running it through those little scanners at break neck speeds.  Sometimes I think the only miracle left at Christmas is that some of us don't actually kill someone. 

This year, I jumped off the crazy train.  We set a budget.  We almost completely stuck to that budget.  I was proud of our restraint this year.  Amazingly, I don't think our kids noticed a difference at all.  I only threatened to kill my sweet husband two or three times over the last few days.  It has been a banner Christmas!

Moving on to Christmas eve.  Hallelujah, we slept in!  I don't know how to start a day any better than sleeping late; especially given that we have a two year old who has the energy of about five highly caffeinated toddlers.  After having realized I got to sleep in, my mind immediately went into overdrive as I remembered all the wonderful hand made gifts I had decided to make this year.  You guessed it...they all needed to be finished.  And when I say finished, I mean they were mostly undone.  So what do you do when you have too much to do?  Kick the family out of the house and get on Facebook to complain about the amount of work left.  Yep, that's how I roll.  Somehow, I finished, so I won't spend time with explanations.  Just know I got it done and am nothing if not amazing.  And humble.

First stop: Christmas Eve services:
We sang all the wonderful carols and had a blast remembering the reason why we celebrate Christmas.  We remember that Jesus was born in a humble manger.  God came in the flesh with a wonderful, amazingly simple yet elaborate plan to redeem us with the perfect Lamb.  A cute little cuddly baby Jesus who would save the world and who is to one day return for his spotless church.  Good stuff! 

The toddlers of the church did a nativity scene, complete with a lamb who did not want to be on a stage with that donkey and elephant.  Yes, I said elephant.  Apparently, the second donkey did not want to be a donkey but rather enjoyed being an elephant this past Halloween.  So we had a lamb, a donkey and an elephant.  Mary and Joseph toddled down the aisle with baby Jesus, followed by the an angel (who thankfully was the sister of the crying lamb and was willing to comfort the scared little lamb), three wise men and the cutest shepherd in all the world, my Levi. 

Here's the story of Levi's arrival at the manger.  He strutted down the aisle like he owned it and when he arrived at the front, saw me and a camera and immediately announced that he was going to take pictures.  I quickly explained that he had to go up on stage and that I would take his picture and lickety-split, he was up there and posing.  I guess you had to see it to appreciate how precious it was.  He loves being in the lime light, which was apparent even after the Pastor began his message and Levi yet again took the stage.  Thankfully, Pastor Michael didn't seem to mind sharing.

Next, was the elementary aged children's choir.  Complete with my 11 year old fifth grader singing the hits.  He did a great job, smiling for pictures and then making faces at the entire congregation.  A few people remarked that they were making faces back, namely, the Pastor's wife!  You've just gotta love her for that!

It was a wonderful service with a stringed trio, a few soloists, amazing musicians, lovely message and a special visit by the Holy Spirit.  I am not surprised that the HS showed up (we're pals, He allows me to abbreviate) since He tells us he will and all...It was nice to reflect back on God's amazing love for us and that he was willing to show us in such a simple, yet amazing way.  Again, good stuff!

After service, we went home, packed up all the gifts, packed up the kids, packed up the two dogs and went over to my mom's house for more Christmas fun.  There's nothing like a house full of people and pets when you are used to solitude of living alone.  In fact, she's probably still twitching even though we left hours ago.  It's what I do on the nights when my husband works.  I get the kids in bed, clean the wreckage and then I  twitch until I recover from the night alone with my two wonderful, sweet, perfect children.  She may be twitching for days...

Christmas morning was magical, as usual.  I would venture a guess that it was the most magical Christmas my mother has seen in all her years as it was the very first Christmas shared with all three of her grand children.  We only had a few minor bumps and bruises and a I don't recall any major melt downs, which is phenomenal with a two year old and a three year old present.  It was magical for me in that after all the fun of the standard Christmas day revelry, I got to take a nap.  Yes, it was a good day and a wonderful birthday party for Jesus.

Now it is snowing.  What more could a girl ask for?  Here I am in Georgia, enjoying my very first white Christmas with an overly caffeinated two year old (he drank every last drop of my pumpkin spiced coffee while I have been typing) running around the house and an 11 year old playing in the snow.  I am warm, cozy and most of all, thankful. 

Merry Christmas indeed!