The Day Arrived - Christmas is Here!

The day when Love came down.  God gave the ultimate gift, his son, to save us all, to save me.  Merry Christmas.  

Today I loved seeing all the Christmas facebook posts.  Face-timed my mom and Benji to share with them what the kids found under the Christmas tree.  We attended church, where I felt loved and cared for.  Dave's parents came bringing dinner so I didn't have much to do!  It was another quiet day.

I sit tonight by the tree with lots of thoughts.  With wonder, are we making Christmas something that our kids will love and store as fond, loving memories as they grow into adults?  Have we done enough to leave a legacy that we are proud of ?  Will they remember the treats that were prepared and eaten?  I wonder after a full day of Christmas in our home, what have my children taken and stored away as memories.  If only I could handpick those moments for them.  But I can't, I can only sit back and wonder if what I did was enough that has left a lasting impression.

As a girl who has grown into a 38 year old woman, married, with 3 babies, and has just lost her dad, the whole idea of memories have struck me in a more meaningful way.  Our minds are amazing what they remember.  Lots of memories of my dad are fresh right now.  I can close my eyes and relive those moments in the hospital, the words that were spoken, the kisses, holding his hands.  But trying to remember things when I was a child, I can't seem to force that.   Those memories just seem to pop up unexpectedly.  This morning, the kids were awake first (obviously, always are really) and they were waiting for us to get downstairs.  I came down, did a few things in kitchen and joined them in the living room.  They were so excited, looking at their full stockings and the gifts under the tree.  But they had to wait for Dave.  Then it hit me....when I was a kid on Christmas morning, it was the exact same scene.  All of us kids and mom were in the family room waiting for Dad who seemed to have fallen into the toilet-or so we would always question him!  I think some times we would bang on the bathroom door telling him to hurry up!  As that memory popped into my mind, I shared that with my kids and we all kind of giggled about it.  I hope to keep my dad's memory alive in those 3 precious children.  They need his example of love, grace and generosity in their lives.

Merry Christmas!