A time for family

I love this time of year. Even with all the hustle & bustle, it always seems to me that it's going in slow motion. Life slows down and I thoroughly enjoy every single moment of it. I am a sentimental sort of person anyway, but just start that Christmas music, start talking about Jesus being born  here on earth because God wanted that much for us to be near him, start getting the families together to share meals.... it's the hap-happiest time of the year!

I know there is a lot of talk about people spending too much money at Christmas. And most certainly, it must be true. But, being the Christmas-optimist I am, I have to believe a lot of the motivation behind it is just people wanting to brighten other people's days! If you're going to go overboard on something, why not go overboard with doing something for others? Now, don't walk away from this post thinking I'm advocating going into debt at Christmas-time. Spend what you have, not what you don't have. I just think when our focus is on the happiness of others, it can never be a totally bad thing!

The past couple of Christmases, I have discovered something wonderful. Me and my sentimental self... I've always been such a lover of holiday traditions. We've always gotten our tree from the SAME place the day after Thanksgiving, we decorate it the same way, we have our grilled cheese and hot cocoa after we decorate, and we joke about how in my mind we're having the grilled cheese on Christmas Eve because that's how I did it when I was a kid. The past couple of years, with the girls moving out and Rachel getting married and having kids of her own, it's been quite a bit different. I thought it would be much harder on me than it is, to let go of the traditions we've held so dear. But I have found there is great joy in seeing the new traditions taking shape in Rachel & Aaron's family. We've adjusted, we've done things differently, and it has worked. I felt as if God was telling me something when we got the postcard in the mail telling us as of this year the Kiwanis would no longer be selling Christmas trees. And on top of that, we knew we wouldn't even be able to put up a Christmas tree until after the wedding. But you know what? I don't even feel as if any traditions have been broken.

Instead, I feel like I've made the greatest discovery of all. The traditions have never been about what or when. It's always been about who.