Ah…Christmas

I love Christmas.

Although I don’t consider myself a fanatic, I am a definite fan of this particular holiday. Holy day.

I am one of “those people” who plays Christmas music all year round, and busts out the decorations the day after Thanks Giving, because I can.

I am a traditionalist. I love the whole season of Advent, liturgy and all, and we are building as many traditions into this short, special time that we can.

But…

Christmas this year is different.

My daddy has gone to his heavenly home and is celebrating our savior continuously…without the need for tinsel. (But who really uses tinsel anyways?)

My sister, Rachel, has been training in Colorado with  YWAM, so I haven’t had my decorating partner, my baking partner, and my sing-along-with-Muppet-Christmas-Carol partner. (That thankfully is being unexpectedly rectified tonight.)

I have two tramautized sons, who have not only lost their beloved grandfather, but are experiencing the anxiety of….oh so many wonderful holiday triggers.  Jeremiah especially is having a difficult time believing that today (or tomorrow, or the day after that) will not be the day that he will have to pack his bags and move on. Since his birth mom left him when he was 4, he has never been with a family two Christmases in a row.

Let that sink in.

To him, this is an impossibility.

And the deadline is approaching fast.

I have such a wonderful extended family who has embraced our boys whole heartedly, although most of them can not comprehend the whys and hows. I am so thankful for them.

Today I will try to get some baking done. There is a mom in the community who is really struggling after 2 back surgeries, and the football moms (Hey! I’m a football mom!) are bringing over some Christmas goodies. That feels good. Plus it gives me an excuse to try out some new recipes.

I hear my sarcastic friends saying, “Sure! Experiment on the sick person!”

Don’t worry. My boys can attest to the fact that 99% of my experiments turn out to be AMAZING!

Anywho, to close this ragged Christmas post…

I bless everyone one of you this Christmas with what our family has been learning this advent.

I bless you with God’s Hope. That you will know that He ALWAYS keeps his promises, even if the results don’t look like what we expected.

I bless you with God’s Peace. That you will know that God is in control and that he is taking care of you, even when your world seems like chaos. (Oh, you know we’ve needed some major peace.)

I bless you with God’s Joy. That you will know in your innermost being that not only is God in control, but he has GOOD THINGS planned for you. Better than we could ever HOPE or IMAGINE.

And finally, I bless you with God’s Love. A love that surpasses anything our human brains or hearts can comprehend. A love that is all sacrificing. All healing. All filling. A perfect love that casts out all fear. (That is what I am praying for my boys.) For God loved we crazy people so much, that He sent His only son,His perfect son,His precious son, to come as a baby, experience hunger, and pain, and puberty, just so He could go to that cross one day, die an excruciating death, for us. FOR US! Why? Because he couldn’t imagine eternity without us.

Now that’s love.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a healing night.

Blessings!

Hannah

Leave a comment | 1 comment so far |