The Countdown is beginning for me – 10 days! Oh my gosh – and I don’t have a single decoration up. I haven’t done any shopping. We don’t have a tree yet – nothing is ready! I’m hearing about people who have already been celebrating Christmas with parties and family gatherings. And I haven’t even begun to really think about getting my house ready! And it seems that this is the way it is for me every year! I feel like I’m behind schedule . . . and I wonder why . . . and then I remember . . .
When I was young, we had no sign of Christmas in our home until Christmas morning. It was wonderful! Christmas was truly a surprise every year. My parents would have us take naps in the early evening and we would wake up in the dark, get dressed up in our Christmas clothes and drive together late at night – stars twinkling in the sky for the 10 mile drive to church. It seemed like more than 10 miles when I was young. Anyway our family of 6 would get in the car and my dad would start us out with singing Christmas Carols and Hymns and we sang pretty much all the way to church. He would tell us to look in the sky and see if we saw any sign of Santa and we’d sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Silent Night and White Christmas.
Once we got to church we’d get out and run or slide to the church steps. The stained glass windows were so huge and beautiful at Christmas time. The lights on the inside of the church made the windows light up so perfectly. Usually our Aunts and Uncles on my mom’s side of the family were already there, gathered outside the door talking and chatting. I didn’t know they had been there setting the altar, placing all the flowers, putting up the Nativity Frontal and of course setting out the Christmas fellowship in the basement along with decorating a Christmas tree both upstairs and down!
I remember watching the pageant before I was in it and wondering what part I would play when I got ‘old’ enough. And then the nervousness I felt being In the pageant, even though I didn’t have a speaking part and then finally the year I could have speaking role. Anyway – back to the magic and mystery of Christmas Eve to Christmas Morning.
After the service, quite often Santa would show up – but I remember Santa coming to church one year and kneeling at the altar railing. It made an impression on me and that is when I learned about Santa Claus being a saint – St. Nicholas. One would think that could have confused me – but Connie – bless her heart – was able to talk with me about things sacred and secular and help me understand in ways that didn’t confuse.
I remember feeling so small on Christmas, kneeling between my mother and father in the pew when the lights went down and we sang Silent Night, Holy Night and tears fell on the hymnal that my father was holding. The tears wet quite a bit of the page and my heart was sad – I didn’t understand why my daddy was crying. I reached into my mother’s purse and pulled out a Kleenex, then stood up and reached over to wipe my daddy’s tears off his cheek. That’s when he put the hymnal down, picked me up and held me close. When I asked my dad why he was crying he said it was because he loved Jesus. Later in life he shared with me that he cried because Christmas wasn’t always a silent and holy night everywhere in the world. But that’s a different story and memory . . . Back to the mysterious and magical Christmas mornings we would experience . . . After church and the gifts we received and gave to our Sunday School teachers and classmates we would drive home. Tired but excited, Mom and Dad would put us on alert – Do you see that big twinkle in the sky over there? That might be Santa and his sleigh . . . you kids better be good when get home and get to bed, he won’t come in if you’re awake and he only stops at a house once. Oh so then began the ‘I get the bathroom first!’ routine . . . four kids and one bathroom . . . you know how that goes . . .
10 miles, 10 days, 10 minutes . . . It seems I have so much to do to get ready for Christmas – I have no cookies made, no presents purchased, no cards addressed, no decorations up – but you know what? Christmas isn’t here yet. It’s 10 days away and in my family, when I grew up, other people had their trees up and we didn’t – and it didn’t matter to me. And when other people took their trees down a day or two after Christmas – we still had ours up – and I liked that. Our tree didn’t come down until after Epiphany – it was our tradition and it was wonderful.
10 Days to Christmas, heck – Epiphany isn’t until January 6th – oh – but I have to get the tree up before I can take it down right? My husband and I have always kept the tree up a few days longer – we like to have our tree up for our anniversary so it usually comes down on January 8th. And it’s become tradition for our family to celebrate Christmas on New Years Day so our children can celebrate Christmas with their families.
Still – I should write a list and decide which room I want to clean and decorate first instead of having to do the whole house in a just 5 or 6 hours like my Mom and Dad did!
My favorite Christmas memory though is that night my dad’s tears fell on that hymnal and he told me he loved Jesus . . .
and that is why I celebrate Christmas year after year – because I love Jesus too.
It’s a blessing to remember that God’s love made an appearance in the flesh that first Christmas morn . . .
May His Love be renewed in your heart and home this year!
