Hope

Tonight I sit in my family room softly aglow from the tiny twinkles of the Christmas tree and garland adorning the fire place as my precious family sleeps. Today has been a wonderful, exciting time alive with the childlike wonder that often accompanies this time of year.  For months I have felt blessed, content, amazed, and awestruck with all God has given me relationally through David, Daxton, Colton, and Korwyn.  I know He heard repeatedly throughout this day the somewhat sarcastic but very well-meant "BEST CHRISTMAS EVERRRRR!" It was not meant irreverently just overflowing with gratefulness.  As I sit and ponder this past year in our lives and in the lives of friends who have lost loved ones, I know that our current times together are to be pondered up and savored for they will most likely not always be.  As much as I don't want today to be over, I do anticipate all God will do and how He will be faithful to bring us through just as He has done so often before.

This morning David and I arose earlier than the children. It was his brilliant idea to set an alarm for all of us (ours being 15 minutes earlier than theirs) so we could be awake with cameras ready to capture their faces upon entering the family room.  When we arrived at our predetermined spots we knew they were awake and so we went in their room to bring them out a little early.  He sat and brought to 7 and 8 year old light a truth about God and His Christmas Gift that spoke even to this 34 year old heart.  He asked them if there was anything they were hoping to see out in the family room; if they were excited and anticipating what was ahead of them.  They, of course, responded with nods of affirmation and total attention for he had hooked them. He went on to share that we can have that same hope and anticipation about Heaven because of The Gift of Jesus and that is why we celebrate His birth. It was such a quick, simple reminder in the moment, so relaxed and so relatable, yet so powerful.  Yes, I was a little jealous but mostly I was thankful that God allows him use his words in such a way to lead the 4 of us.

As a parent, Christmas can get complicated. The world especially the American portion of it can cast so many tangents away from the True Meaning of the Season.  In relationship with Jesus, I know the time of year is off, the account has been told and retold by stories and songs that it can get lost in translation, but I also know that childlike faith is to what we are called, and that knowledge and fact can bog down Truth as much as fiction, folklore and fairy tales.  I struggle as a Mom to navigate my children through all of it.  It is so refreshing when the Truth can be drawn from the simple moment of the day or experience.

I am so grateful for this hope, this anticipation that comes with my salvation because of God's Son, my Savior!  I truly have had a very Merry Christmas and I am humbly grateful!