Last year, for what ever reason, I did not want to decorate. Too much work, no one helps, no one helps clean up when its done. I don't want to climb the ladders to put the lights on the house. Ya ya ya.
I did it anyway. It turned out ok.
Well, this year is different. I have a child who has been homesick. She is better now, but she was real homesick for months. About a month ago she started asking about when we were decorating for Christmas. "Dad, I want to help decorate. I miss home."
Wow. Home. I forgot what that meant for a moment. Its the place where I belong. Its a place where the kids feel connected. Its a place of safety. Being home for Christmas, decorating for Christmas is something that reminds them of a time when they were young and secure. Christmas hearkens back to a time before when the big scary things of life appeared.
I know that someday they will have their own families. They may not want to come for Thanksgiving and Christmas. They may have inlaws to visit. They may live in Florida. I don't ever want to force them to show up for holidays. Maybe that way, they will want to. [reverse psychology] Maybe some year they will all want to show up with their kids and Cathy and I will tell them, "sorry, but we will be in Hawaii."
Anyway, this year, we are decorating. Tree. Lights. Ornaments. Dodads around the house. Reindeer, mice, moose, mangers. Lights on the house. I even bought a train to go around the tree. We're gonna celebrate. And why not. We should never forget the gifts of home, the gifts of family, the gifts of love.
It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
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Our house is always decorated so beautifully. Carol does it while I'm gone. Upacking dozens of boxes of decorations, putting a tree in almost every room, hanging things throughout the room...and hundreds of little touches that I discover throughout the season, and probably some I never find... It's a mess going up, but how beautiful it is finished. She loves it...she loves doing the work. It's already completed. The house is Christmas today. For Carol, the hours of work is recreation...that's who she is. The work is dwarfed by the excitement of the children staring in awe at the lights and ornaments. She lets them play with the Nativity scene. Won't they break something? The answer comes back, look at them! Years from now, the broken Josef and one-legged Mary will spark the memory of Emma rearranging the manager and Robbie carrying the baby Jesus around the house. Perhaps this is a part of getting comfortable carrying Jesus around in life. I love Christmas Carol. Perhaps this is the year I smile while putting the lights up outside. Thanks for the ocassion to sit and be thankful for the mess and the work that is required to create an atmosphere of love and celebration.
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