Christmas

I have been musing over Christmas these past few days, knowing I wanted to post something today, not sure what to say, wondering what has not been said already? But I have no original thoughts, just reflections and memories like all other mere mortals.

In our home, I find myself often of two minds, trying my best to meld them together. One is focusing on our Savior and what his birth meant to the world and to us personally, and the other is the "normal" stuff of disobedient children, and sibling squabbles, watching movies together, missing Quentin, and making dinner while adding extra chores to our days. We look back over the past year, over our life thus far, over the absence of loved ones, over our blessings. And for me, I respond once again with a grateful heart to the Lord who has walked with me through it all, providing me with His sustaining grace, His nourishing strength.

May His peace and joy be with you through it all, and may your Christmas be simply, wonderfully, humanly, supernaturally perfect - because that is what it was meant to be.

I leave you with these dear words from The Christmas Carol, one of our family traditions to watch together (we missed you Q):
"But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round -- apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that -- as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!'"