Christmas

There were many great reasons to love Christmas at our house. We often had two beautiful trees, one with the classic, traditional Chrismons Mom & Dad had made together, one that ‘belonged’ to the kids, with colored lights and colorful decorations. We had such a wonderful tradition.

After a few weeks practicing for the Christmas program, after struggling to memorize a few lines from the Christmas Story, the big night finally came around. We had our dinner and waited around for the program—both in a hurry to get to the presents but not in much of a hurry to sing or recite in front of the congregation. Even though the ‘performance’ aspect of it was not fun for a young person, the priorities were made clear to us: The holiday exists to celebrate Christ’s birth, and our opportunity to be a part of a church, and to live together in Christ.

After the service, I remember walking down the aisle between the pews, grabbing that bag of peanuts and an apple, and making a bee-line for the house. Perhaps I’d stop in the kitchen to dig into the tower of Tupperware bursting with holiday treats, but I wanted to see the presents. There would be a virtual explosion of gifts under the tree by that time. The gifts are really another “how did they do it” mystery to me. How gifts might have migrated from hiding places to the space around our Christmas tree is not that difficult to imagine. But to pay for such a cornucopia of presents and to get them purchased and wrapped and hidden boggles my mind. I can’t seem to keep little gifts hidden from one person that well, and I wince at the impact the holidays can take as we work to save for a house, cars, and other necessaries.

Like most kids, I didn’t spend much time wondering if the night was as special for my parents as it was for me—I suspect that it was special for them because it was special for us. I’m sure there were some challenging moments, as there have to be with four kids at such an exciting time. But I remember the joy, passing gifts to each other and watching for expressions, sitting and waiting for the right moment to click a picture, and wondering, by the end of the night, how I’d have time to play with all this stuff. Mom & Dad’s work, year after year, has made Christmas in my life into the warm, special time of year that it is meant to be.