The long Thanksgiving weekend has come and gone, and Christmas is upon us. The pre-Thanksgiving hype about Christmas turns me off, but oh, how I love celebrating Thanksgiving itself by welcoming Christmas. It just seems a natural fit. I spend a wonderful day sharing food, friendship and love, then spend the day after decorating and preparing for the most life-giving food, the most intimate friendship, and the most powerful, unconditional love that is Christ. It's a magical time of year ~ the music, the decorations, and the spirit of brotherhood and peace in the air, all wrapped around the promise that is Christ.
The kid in me relishes the surprises of Christmas present; the adult in me bathes in the memories of Christmas past. It really is amazing how powerful those memories are and how I am drawn to recreating those sights, smells and sounds. Yesterday I made a beef stew that simmered in brandy and cranberries for over 3 hours. The smell was positively divine but the taste even more so. Add my family around the table, which has been set in the first of many festive displays, music of the season, a house lit only by candlelight and the Christmas tree, and I simultaneously breathed it all in as an adult and a child. I was overwhelmed with gratitude.
This Christmas season, however you celebrate, with whomever you celebrate, and even if your celebration is tainted by loss, my prayer for you is that you, too, are filled to the brim with gratitude for the gifts of life, love and peace that is only Christ's to give.
2 comments:
I'm having a blast too Casey. Playing with you is like challenging my late mother who was the Scrabble Queen. A win spurs me on to win again... and again...
The interaction while playing is an added bonus. Talk to you tonight... in person!
Peppermint
I think you meant to post this on "Your Turn" so I will copy and paste it there, too.
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