The Essence of Christmas

It is challenging to identify one special Christmas in which I could never forget.  As I began reflecting on all the Christmases I have enjoyed, it seemed that many bleed into others.  Maybe it has to do with the traditions that I grew up with, and how they seem to fold into each other? I have always loved the quiet anticipation of Christmas Eve and then the slowness of Christmas morning.  opening our stockings, unwrapping our gifts and then enjoying breakfast together.  While the characters have changed throughout the years, the excitement, celebration, and joy has remained.

Christmas 20014 was a Christmas that I will never forget.  It was our last Christmas as a family of three.  Nola would be born soon and I wanted it to be a special Christmas for Hugh.  He was finally old enough to go to the 11:00 Christmas Eve service at church!  The 11:00 service has always been so special to me.  I can remember when I was finally old enough to go with my mom and three sisters! (Sadly, I think I fell asleep on my first one.) I wanted to be able to share this with Dave and Hugh-just us.  

Hugh also wanted strawberry pretzel salad for our Christmas dinner.  Now, strawberry pretzel salad takes time and patience.  You have to bake the crust and let it cool.  Then make the whipped spread…let it cool…and finally add the strawberry jello as the last layer. I decided to make this on Christmas Eve.  (Actually, I believe our washer decided that I would make this on Christmas Eve because it went out and Dave and I had to go and purchase a new washer for Christmas. Merry Christmas!)

I began making Hugh’s pretzel salad later that evening thinking that it would help pass the time until we had to leave for church. I was close to finishing by the time the service rolled around, but I still had to add the jello layer. My feet were swollen and I was exhausted.  Hugh was halfway asleep.  I thought, “Do we really need to go?”. Yes, yes we did.

We got to church and as we sat as a family of 3, I held the excitement of knowing we would be a family of 4 soon.  And, I also tried to watch the service through the eyes of a 9-year-old child.  I watched as he lit his candle and boldly sang Silent Night. But, the best part was when we were quietly driving home.  As we approached the four way stop right before our house, Hugh leaned up and excitedly said, “I feel like we just inhaled all of Christmas!” Dave and I looked at each other and we both were like “That’s exactly what we did!”.  We breathed in the essence of Christmas. We were filled with the joy and peace of the season. Leave it to a child to remind us of the true meaning of Christmas.  And, I went home to finish  the strawberry pretzel salad with a smile.

May each of you be filled with the complete joy, peace and spirit of Christmas! 

“A merry heart does good like medicine.” Proverbs 17:22