Tag: Christmas

FREEZE THE FRAME

Christmas 2022 is in the books.  The presents have all been unwrapped and the decorations put away until next year, although as I type these words I see a Christmas pillow that needs go in the attic.  We were talking with our girls about Christmas when I made the comment that this has been my best Christmas ever.  Our daughter Kristie thoughtfully asked, “Mom, what do you think made it your favorite?”  

It is hard to put into words, this overflowing heart feeling.  I am so grateful that once again we got to have our entire immediate family together on Christmas morning.  The past two years have been rough, with deaths of extended family members, Covid, and two sons-in-law who have battled cancer.  So it was a blessing that we could all be together and healthy.  Thank you, Lord.

The photo that you see is a picture of Jerry and I with all our grands and greats.  I wish our daughters and their husbands could have been in the picture too, but I’m not sure how we could have accommodated 24 of us on the stairs and in one snapshot.  As I look at this picture my heart is full, but at the same time there is a feeling of sadness.  I know it won’t always be this way.  We have a lot of moving parts, and now, even our parts have parts.  Two of our grands are now married and have in-laws.  I can remember having to make the rounds with children at Christmas…three turkey dinners in 24 hours!  We finally got to the point where we wanted to have a less hectic Christmas in our own home.  And so will our grandchildren.  It is a natural, expected part of life.  

The problem with “lasts” is that you often don’t recognize it’s a last until it is gone.  I am remembering Christmases with all my siblings at our grandparent’s house.  When was the last time?  I can’t even remember.  But oh how I wish for five more minutes, like in the Hallmark movies.  But then we would have to part all over again and I don’t think I could bear it.  

Why was this my best Christmas?  This photo that you see?  I want to freeze it and make time stand still, put my arms around all my babies and hold them close.  I think Michael W. Smith says it so much better than I can in his song, “Freeze the Frame.”  I dare you to read the lyrics and watch the video with dry eyes. 

All my favorite people
Gathered in one place
This cold December evening
My eyes go face to face

Drinking in the joy I feel
For all the love we share
There’s no song as sweet as family
Voices in the air

Can we freeze the frame

And stop the hands of time?
Make the moon stand still in the sky?


My only wish this Christmas Eve
Is that we could all remain 

Forever here


Can we freeze the frame?

Hard to make it happen
But everybody’s home
And the ones who once were children
Now have children of their own

Time around the table
And time around the tree
These moments in these rooms tonight
Are everything I dream

Can we freeze the frame
And stop the hands of time?
Make the moon stand still in the sky?


My only wish this Christmas Eve
Is that we could all remain 

Forever here


Can we freeze the frame?

It’s something close to sacred
I’m on the edge of tears
We don’t need the presents
It’s just the presence
Of the people gathered here

Oh, can we freeze the frame
And stop the hands of time?
Make the moon stand still in the sky?


My only wish this Christmas Eve
Is that we could all remain 

Forever here


Can we freeze the frame? (Ooh…)

Forever here
Can we freeze the frame?

Ooo-ooh-ooh…

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Michael Whitaker Smith / Tony Webster Wood

EMBRACING MY SEASON

I’ve been feeling pretty nostalgic as we approach Christmas. Maybe wistful is a better word…combined with nostalgia. For some time I have been wanting to slow the calendar down. Time is racing past! And I feel it acutely at Christmas.

Several years ago I collected all our photos from past Christmases and scanned them into my computer. I made a slide show and surprised my family with it on Christmas morning. I wasn’t sure how it would go over with a tree full of presents waiting to be unwrapped. But everyone loved it, the adults as well as the children. They wanted to sit through the whole thing before unwrapping gifts. Maybe some things are better than bought presents. I’ve continued to add to the slideshow every year and I will have it playing again Christmas morning. But this year I also did something different. I am playing it continually on my Echo Show that sits on my kitchen counter. So every time I walk into the kitchen I am treated to a blast from the past. And that is what is triggering my nostalgia.

Where did the years go? I thought my children grew up fast, but my grandchildren’s childhood years have flown by at warp speed. Our youngest is nine this year and is the only remaining believer in the magic of Santa Claus. We have two who are grown and married, one with a baby of her own. Our two college kids will be joined by a third, leaving a high school senior, two in middle school, and one left in elementary school. Once they get to a certain age they don’t have as much time for us, especially when they get those driver’s licenses. It is not such a treat to come to JuJu and Paki’s house, and that is how it should be. They have lives of their own. But it makes me miss the days when there were lots of little feet in the house.

EPSON MFP image

EPSON MFP image

I would love to go back and visit a Christmas past. Maybe a Christmas Eve with my own dear grandparents. I miss them every day. A Christmas with all my siblings.  Or a Christmas at our old house, the one our kids grew up in. I can practically hear those little feet running down the stairs shouting with joy over a doll or a bicycle. We have been in our current house for almost 20 years, so we have many wonderful Christmas memories here too. Little grand babies that have grown into big people.

EPSON MFP image

I’m wondering what future Christmases will look like. Will they continue to be as much fun as the grands continue to grow older? Will we be blessed enough to have more together? Will we still be relevant in their lives I’m coaching myself to embrace the season I’m in. To be mindful of my many blessings. I’m reminded of the story of the Exodus in the Old Testament when God delivered the children of Israel from a life of slavery. What did they do? They complained and looked back on the “leeks and garlic of Egypt.” If I focus too much on Christmas Past or Christmas Future I might miss the joy of Christmas Present.

So I thank God that Jerry and I get another Christmas together. We almost didn’t. Not all of my friends are so blessed. We know that these are bonus days for us, and tell each other every day. I have friends who are dealing with loss this year. Soul crushing loss. If you are going through a season of loss this year, please know that Jesus sees you and longs to be your comfort. And if you are looking for someone to listen to your pain, I’m pretty good at that.

Jerry and I still have our health, although we are not moving around as well as we used to. I know we are so lucky to have all our children and grandchildren living right here in Tulsa, some just around the corner. I’m blessed that we get to host Christmas Day. With so many moving parts we might not always get everyone together.

I don’t know the future holds but I trust the One who holds it. So I will enjoy Christmas 2019 and be grateful for our blessings. Most of all we are grateful that all our children and grandchildren know the Lord and we will all spend eternity together in His presence.

WHITE CHRISTMAS

 

A few years ago I wrote this piece for my book, Seasons. When it snowed yesterday, I started thinking about it. This is an updated version I hope you will enjoy.

Jerry and I have been binge-watching Hallmark Christmas movies since Thanksgiving. Even though they are cheesy and predictable, we love them. They are so formulaic, we could write a screenplay ourselves. Especially the ending: It snows and they kiss. I love the settings for these movies. Small towns with picturesque Main Streets, and a snow-covered mountain in the background. But my favorite Christmas movie, bar none, is White Christmas. Jerry groans every year when I suggest watching it, so in recent years I have watched it by myself or with my girls. The girls and I can recite most of the lines and sing the songs by heart. In recent years we have all had trouble staying awake past the train scene (“Vermont should be beautiful this time of year!”) This year I stayed awake through the whole thing!

What is it about that movie that speaks to us? I think for me it is a combination of nostalgia and hope. When the movie first came out, I was only a little girl. I was remembering my early childhood Christmases this morning. The one that particularly stands out in my memory was when I was six. It had been a good year financially for my parents (most were not), and I got a Western Flyer bicycle and a Toni doll. My younger sister received a Tiny Tears doll. For some reason fruitcake is tied to this memory, although I’m sure I would not have eaten any at that age.

White Christmas follows the career of two soldiers (played by Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye) in the years after World War II. It dawned on that the Christmas in my memory was not too far removed from that war. Since it ended before I was born, the war always seemed like ancient history to me. But to my parents, it had only been a few years. I wonder what it felt like to celebrate Christmas in peace and prosperity after going through such a dangerous and rationed period. They never spoke much about the war, and now I wish I had asked more questions.

I remind myself that we are still fighting wars. All over the world we have troops that are dreaming of a Christmas “just like the ones (they) used to know.” But they are doing their duty, trying to keep peace in a world filled with conflict, trying to keep us safe. And the ones who have returned home may still be battling their own traumatic memories.

Peace on earth. The prophets spoke of it, the angels sang of it. And yet we still have wars and struggles, families are still torn apart. We even have battles within ourselves. This past week I have heard some particularly devastating stories in my office. “Jesus, you were born into such a dark world! Oh, Prince of Peace, where are You,” I cry.

“Where is the Christmas we long for,” I wonder. Then Jesus reminds me that the war is not over. His kingdom on earth has not yet been established. One day soon, He will return and conquer evil for good. Until then, we will still face battles. The words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow say it best:

And in despair I bowed my head:
“There is no peace on earth,” I said
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.”
From Christmas Bells1.

White Christmas. What is it about snow? It makes everything beautiful, pristine. It covers even the most blighted landscape, turning it into something pure and new. That’s what Jesus promises to do for us. He takes our ugly, sinful hearts and covers them with the pure snow of His love, transforming them and turning them into something new. He offers us peace with God. May we all experience a truly white Christmas this year.

“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” Isaiah 1:18 (ESV).

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