Reason #700
Another hundred down! I always feel somewhat accomplished when I make it to another hundred mark, although numbers are just numbers. Anyway, it's fitting that a "milestone" would fall on Christmas. I don't know about you, but Christmas kind of snuck up out of no where this year. It came so quickly that it almost didn't even feel like Christmas. And honestly, going to work tomorrow and Friday is going to be rough. Especially since I have to get up in 6 hours. Good thing I took a long Christmas nap today!
It's funny how Christmas changes the older you get. When you're young, it's so magical and mysterious (not to mention really easy). When you're an adult, it's kind of exhausting. My mom is the hostess with the mostess and always does a phenomenal job with the holidays. She has it so together, and I just hope that maybe I'll develop that ability one day. Anyway, the older I've gotten, the more I appreciate her as she does such a great job coming up with food to eat, games to play, and gifts to give each year. She sure knows how to make the holidays sweet and memorable, and we all owe her a lot for doing that every year.
I think the sure sign of growing up is that you tend to care less about the whole gift thing. Really, gifts aren't my love language. They are kind and generous to give, but if we're being truthful, most of our things don't even make it to the next Christmas. Can you even remember what you got last year or five years ago? I bet you'd have to think quite a bit about it, and I bet you that it probably ended up in a garage sale or donation bag. Because stuff is stuff. It wears out, goes out of style, breaks, or quickly gets replaced. After all, no one sits around the table at Christmas taking about the gifts they received in the past. They talk about the memories from the past years, because those are the things that we keep with us forever.
Christmas has changed for me over the past few years, and while that's a good thing, there are some things I miss. For one, I miss having all of my family together. In fact, I think the last time we were all together was the Christmas before last. I think the Lord was really blessing me with an abundance of love and support that year, as it was a tough Christmas for me. Anyway, all the grandkids are getting married and moving away so our numbers have dwindled. I also miss getting to be present to help cook. My mom and aunt used to always do the cooking, as I was more of a hindrance than a help in the kitchen, but the older I got, the more I got to do. There was just something really gratifying about getting to not only help cook the meal but then to sit down and enjoy the fruits of our kitchen labor with the people we loved the most. This year was the first year I wasn't much of a help, and I really, really missed it. Truthfully, it wasn't so much the cooking food that I enjoyed, I enjoyed getting to be in the kitchen sharing stories and laughing about old memories. It was a really precious time that only us girls got to share once a year.
And so tonight, after the food was consumed and the gifts were unwrapped, I volunteered to stay and help clean up. I don't necessarily love doing the dishes or wiping down the table, but this was my chance to be in the kitchen with the women. My chance to contribute, even though it was afterwards. This was my chance to share stories and to laugh about the things from the past, and I realized that this is what I love about Christmas.
It's hearing my grandparents talk about their childhood. It's laughing at the hysterical stories told by my mom and aunt about when they were younger. It's learning more about my great grandparents and how life used to be 80 years ago. It's re-living old memories and being amazed at what all God has done for us over the years. It's standing in a circle holding hands and listening to my granddad pray the most beautiful prayer of gratitude and thanksgiving. It's hearing him sing Sweet Little Jesus Boy as my mom played the piano for him. It's getting to catch up and reminisce because the holidays make us all a little more sentimental. It's getting to eat my grandmother's prize winning candy because it's definitely a labor of love. It's getting to talk and laugh and share time with the people who have had the most significant impact on my life, who love me unconditionally, continuously support and encourage me, and who have faithfully walked through every step of life with me.
Christmas is so much more than food. Much more than sweets and stockings and pretty presents. While Christmas can often seem like a labor, it should be a labor of love. A time of year where we enjoy our families. A time of year when sweet, life-long memories are made and shared. A time when traditions are started and repeated, where joy is contagious, and where love abounds. That's why Jesus came. Not so that we could keep getting ourselves more things that we don't need. Not so that we could stuff ourselves so full that sweatpants are the only thing that fit for weeks. He didn't come so that we could buy big trees to put in our living rooms and bright lights to hang on our roofs. He came so that we could have abundant and full life. He came so that we could live with peace and joy rather than stress and tension. Jesus came so that we could become children of God, and that's definitely something to celebrate!
And so I'm thankful for another Christmas. For more memories that were made and for the ones that we re-lived. For the chance to spend a few precious hours with some of my favorite people, doing what we've done every Christmas. And most of all, I'm thankful that we serve a God who loves us so much that He sent His Son to join us. That He came to free us from the bondage of sin. That He brought us hope and gladness, restoration and forgiveness. And I'm grateful that because of His birth, His death, and His resurrection, we truly do get to be a family forever.
#700 - Because He sent His Son so that we might become His children.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16
It's funny how Christmas changes the older you get. When you're young, it's so magical and mysterious (not to mention really easy). When you're an adult, it's kind of exhausting. My mom is the hostess with the mostess and always does a phenomenal job with the holidays. She has it so together, and I just hope that maybe I'll develop that ability one day. Anyway, the older I've gotten, the more I appreciate her as she does such a great job coming up with food to eat, games to play, and gifts to give each year. She sure knows how to make the holidays sweet and memorable, and we all owe her a lot for doing that every year.
I think the sure sign of growing up is that you tend to care less about the whole gift thing. Really, gifts aren't my love language. They are kind and generous to give, but if we're being truthful, most of our things don't even make it to the next Christmas. Can you even remember what you got last year or five years ago? I bet you'd have to think quite a bit about it, and I bet you that it probably ended up in a garage sale or donation bag. Because stuff is stuff. It wears out, goes out of style, breaks, or quickly gets replaced. After all, no one sits around the table at Christmas taking about the gifts they received in the past. They talk about the memories from the past years, because those are the things that we keep with us forever.
Christmas has changed for me over the past few years, and while that's a good thing, there are some things I miss. For one, I miss having all of my family together. In fact, I think the last time we were all together was the Christmas before last. I think the Lord was really blessing me with an abundance of love and support that year, as it was a tough Christmas for me. Anyway, all the grandkids are getting married and moving away so our numbers have dwindled. I also miss getting to be present to help cook. My mom and aunt used to always do the cooking, as I was more of a hindrance than a help in the kitchen, but the older I got, the more I got to do. There was just something really gratifying about getting to not only help cook the meal but then to sit down and enjoy the fruits of our kitchen labor with the people we loved the most. This year was the first year I wasn't much of a help, and I really, really missed it. Truthfully, it wasn't so much the cooking food that I enjoyed, I enjoyed getting to be in the kitchen sharing stories and laughing about old memories. It was a really precious time that only us girls got to share once a year.
And so tonight, after the food was consumed and the gifts were unwrapped, I volunteered to stay and help clean up. I don't necessarily love doing the dishes or wiping down the table, but this was my chance to be in the kitchen with the women. My chance to contribute, even though it was afterwards. This was my chance to share stories and to laugh about the things from the past, and I realized that this is what I love about Christmas.
It's hearing my grandparents talk about their childhood. It's laughing at the hysterical stories told by my mom and aunt about when they were younger. It's learning more about my great grandparents and how life used to be 80 years ago. It's re-living old memories and being amazed at what all God has done for us over the years. It's standing in a circle holding hands and listening to my granddad pray the most beautiful prayer of gratitude and thanksgiving. It's hearing him sing Sweet Little Jesus Boy as my mom played the piano for him. It's getting to catch up and reminisce because the holidays make us all a little more sentimental. It's getting to eat my grandmother's prize winning candy because it's definitely a labor of love. It's getting to talk and laugh and share time with the people who have had the most significant impact on my life, who love me unconditionally, continuously support and encourage me, and who have faithfully walked through every step of life with me.
Christmas is so much more than food. Much more than sweets and stockings and pretty presents. While Christmas can often seem like a labor, it should be a labor of love. A time of year where we enjoy our families. A time of year when sweet, life-long memories are made and shared. A time when traditions are started and repeated, where joy is contagious, and where love abounds. That's why Jesus came. Not so that we could keep getting ourselves more things that we don't need. Not so that we could stuff ourselves so full that sweatpants are the only thing that fit for weeks. He didn't come so that we could buy big trees to put in our living rooms and bright lights to hang on our roofs. He came so that we could have abundant and full life. He came so that we could live with peace and joy rather than stress and tension. Jesus came so that we could become children of God, and that's definitely something to celebrate!
And so I'm thankful for another Christmas. For more memories that were made and for the ones that we re-lived. For the chance to spend a few precious hours with some of my favorite people, doing what we've done every Christmas. And most of all, I'm thankful that we serve a God who loves us so much that He sent His Son to join us. That He came to free us from the bondage of sin. That He brought us hope and gladness, restoration and forgiveness. And I'm grateful that because of His birth, His death, and His resurrection, we truly do get to be a family forever.
#700 - Because He sent His Son so that we might become His children.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16
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