Tag: Holiday

PUTTING AWAY CHRISTMAS

The older I get, the more difficult it becomes to decorate the house for Christmas.  It requires boxes of decorations being brought down from the attic, rearranging my furniture; ladders, and boxes and boxes of ornaments, greenery, and other assorted decorations to be put out; and at least two days of physical work that leave Jerry and I with backaches and stiff muscles.   We like to put everything up early so we have a long time to enjoy our tree and everything that goes with it. 

Of course, what goes up must come down.  That requires two more days of hard work and many trips up and down the stairs. After all the garlands and lights and ornaments are put away, I feel a mixture of emotions. I’m glad to get my house back in order, but I miss the lights of the Christmas tree in the mornings when I get up and make my coffee.  And I miss the anticipation of Christmas.    

I love everything about Christmas: the lights, the music, the smells, the foods, and the relationships.  I was in a reflective mood this Christmas. The grandchildren are all grown now…only one left in high school. They are all busy and don’t have as much time for us as when they were little, but I treasure what time I can get with them. This has been a year of letting go. Letting go of expectations as we have learned to be flexible about family events. Whosoever will may come! And we have had to let go of dear friends who have passed on to heaven. And maybe that is what makes Christmas so special.  It is the knowledge that time is running out that makes me treasure each Christmas.  I used to tease my grandmother for saying, “I wonder how many more Christmases we will have to all be together.”  Now I get it.  After everyone left on Christmas evening, Jerry and i hugged and said, “We got to have another one.”

I guess relationships are the most important part of Christmas.  After all, relationship is the reason we have Christmas in the first place.  God desired a relationship with man, so he came to earth to dwell among us and provide a way for us to be in relationship with Him.  

As I pack away Christmas, I want to keep part of it all year long.  My greatest gifts are my relationships.  My relationship with Jesus is primary.  But my family is my treasure.  I’m so blessed to have my husband and our children and grandchildren.  We are so blessed to be a part of a large and loving family.  We are a part of a vibrant and loving church family.  We are blessed with enduring friendships, and newer ones as well.  

Thank you, Lord for Christmas.  Help me to celebrate all year long! 

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.  Psalm 90:12 (NIV).  

LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered–how fleeting my life is.  Psalm 39:4 (NLT).

A CHANGE OF PERSPECTIVE

We did it! The Christmas decorations are up for another year! I am sitting with a cup of tea, a fire in the fireplace, enjoying the lights while a Christmas movie on television provides background noise. For so many, many years I have enjoyed decorating for Christmas. But as the years have passed it has become more of a chore. I’m old! I own it. And I have aches and pains. I am so blessed to be married to a man who loves Christmas as much as I do. I couldn’t (and wouldn’t) do it by myself. I remember an elderly aunt who put out a poinsettia and a fruitcake and called it good. The older I get, the more I understand that. But for this year we are still all in.

We had a plan. Remembering our aching backs and hips, we decided to do a little every day and then take a break. We started on Monday and by Saturday morning we were 98% done. Enough to sit and enjoy. Some people wonder why we decorate so early. It’s because it is so much work to get it all out, we want a long time to enjoy it. And Thanksgiving is late this year, so we don’t want to wait until the turkey is gone. You would have laughed if you could have seen us. We kept a big bottle of Aleve handy and began the task of untangling lights and fluffing the many garlands that go up our staircase and across the landing. And by the way, we have a very curious new puppy. “Stop it! Put that down! What’s in your mouth?”  Jerry and I have joked that he is going to think his name in No No!  We each would work for about half an hour, and then one of us would say, “I’ve got to sit down and take a break. Oh, my aching back!” 

About two days in, I was standing on a death-defying ladder, reaching for the top of our tree, and doing some internal grumbling. “Why are we doing all this work,” I thought. Truthfully, I know I mostly do it because I love it, but the kids have all moved. No one lives around the corner anymore. Even our youngest grand is now 15. They are all busy. They will come by a couple of times, but does that warrant decorating for high mass? As I was thinking these things, some Christmas music was playing, and it hit me! The King is coming! And He is worthy of my best efforts. I want my house to be sparkling, the silver polished, and the aroma of delicious food filling the house. That thought changed the way I worked. Oh, it was still physical, and I still got tired, but I enjoyed it! I want to do it to honor Him, and not for myself. 

Now that my house is ready, I want to spend time preparing my heart. Isn’t that what Advent is all about? I know the lights and the tree are only externals. What Jesus really wants is a ready heart, and I want that too. The decorations are merely an outward sign that we waiting to receive the King. And bonus, I get to enjoy them too. And now if you will excuse me, I just noticed that a strand of lights has gone out.