My grandmother came to visit with us during Thanksgiving week. I am happy to say it was a nice visit and all went well. We had a delicious meal and enjoyed being together as a family. All in all, it was much easier than I expected it to be. Of course, we were only cooking for 9. Later that day, some of our good friends joined us for supper. It was good to visit with them since their work schedules have kept us from our usual visiting habits.
We set up our tree Monday. It was fun and it's nice to have all of my children at that age where they actually understand the meaning of the words and directions coming out of my mouth. Noah helped with the lights and the girls joined us in putting the ornaments on. After it was completely done, I dared my girls to even look at it funny. It's one of those short trees and I have it set up on a table. I also put some of my "special" ornaments on the tree and would hate for them to break. Or it would be even worse if the kids were hurt because ornaments shattered. But it sure is pretty to look at. I remember enjoying the lights on the tree when I was kid. We always used icicles and never used tinsel garland. (I now know why we never used the garland. It's a pain.) The icicles made the lights even more sparkly and it looked cool when I took off my glasses. (Still does, actually.) I used to lay under the tree, as close as I could get and look up into it to see the lights. Without my glasses, the lights look like fuzzy globules. LOL My favorite part of Christmas was getting to be with my mother's family. There we would find order and harmony and peace. I miss that but with family growing and spreading out, it's difficult to join together. And also as we get older and find our place in the world, our dreams, goals and ideals morph and change. Sometimes those changes cause rifts that act like eggshells under our feet. Not a happy thing but better than out and out chaos. I'm hoping we'll have a lovely visit with friends and family for the holiday celebrations this year. My extended family celebrates Christmas. My core family celebrates the things we are thankful for and the blessings we feel God has given us, most of all for salvation from sin. My kids are made aware of the fact that Christmas was orginally a pagan celebration and had nothing whatsoever to do with the Messiah. They know that Santa is a fun dream. They enjoy the games of Christmas, the music, the gatherings, the presents (most of all), and the food. They have a fun time and look forward to it every year. Just because I don't agree with all the lies surrounding the holiday doesn't mean I have to deprive my children of joy or good things. Yea!
This year, I'm thankful for so many things. I'm thankful that we'll have another celebration with my grandmother (Lord willing). I'm thankful we were able to have last year's celebration with my grandfather before he passed away. I'm thankful for my family who helped me to be firmly grounded in a godly way. Even though I feel those beliefs have held me back in some ways, I also am convinced those beliefs have made me stronger in other ways. I'm thankful that my husband and I are committed to making our marriage and our family work. I'm thankful that there is music and light and art. I'm thankful for the beautiful things of nature. I'm thankful for the insight of others. I'm thankful for the new acquaitances I've made through Twitter and facebook. I'm thankful for all the old friends I've found and been able to catch up with through those social websites. I'm thankful for so many things, yes, indeed.
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