What Kind of a Christmas Did We Have? A GREAT One!

Growing up as a child, my Christmas Day was filled with 3 Christmases!  We get up and have Christmas with my parents, then onto my Grandma's House, then onto my other Grandma's house.  We always ate too much, always were exhausted, and had little time to "enjoy" the day.

All our gifts under the tree...

As a much older, married woman, I can experience the TRUE joy of Christmas.  Even though it didn't happen this year as planned...Christmas was a day to experience the love and joy of my husband and my parents.  Unfortunately, only one thing went wrong...we forgot to turn off the alarm clock!  So, as usual, the alarm rang loud and clear at 5:30am.  With a grumble, my husband and I kicked ourselves (metaphorically) and tried to go back to sleep.  Well, guess what?!  It didn't happen.  We finally got out of bed at 6:30am....giving up on going back to sleep.

Our Christmas Eve had been an eventful night and both my husband and I were exhausted!  We're both ordained American Baptist Ministers and our church service went from 6:30 to 8:30, candle light service.  It was beautiful.  The church was packed and the glow of the candles offered a breath of spiritual fervor and excitement of the joy of the birth of the Messiah.

Our stockings were overflowing

(his on left, hers on right)

So, upon waking up early we lazily made our "to-do before guests arrive" Christmas Day list over two cups of coffee each.  And then....we were off to work!  By noon, my parents had arrived, food was on the table and it was time to spend Christmas together as a family.

Both my husband and I opened our stockings, filled with shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, renu, a few cookies, and lots more.  Then we opened up what was under the tree and began to laugh.  My husbands gifts consisted mostly of tools, while my gifts consisted mostly of COFFEE!  We have a Keurig and we go through K-cups at a very fast pace...so the gift of boxes of coffees were incredible.  In fact we got 2, 48 count Donut Shops, and 4 other 24 count boxes of coffee.  Needless to say...we're set for awhile!

His stocking stash

After our company left, it felt good to clean up the house a little and sit down with another cup of coffee as my husband and I enjoyed a riveting game of Disney Pixar's Monopoly.  I was Buzz Lightyear & Luke was Lightning McQueen.  We have played Monopoly many times in our marriage, as its my favorite board game (and I collect them, so I have 27 different versions) but never has my husband managed to beat me....until this Christmas.  He completely annihilated me!  I went bankrupt and he took everything.  I was so proud of him and the smiles, laughter, and joy that emanated from our brief hour and a half game of Monopoly was a perfect way to end our Christmas.  

Her stocking stash

But as we sat around the fire and laughed, joked, and reminisced about all we had seen and all we had done the previous year, it felt good to know that I didn't have to worry about tomorrow, because the birth and death of my Savior has allowed me Freedom in Christ, Hope for tomorrow, and Strength through trials.  From our house to yours, we hope and pray that you and yours had a blessed and wonderful Christmas.  May the joy, light, love, and peace of the birth of the Baby Jesus in the Manger, light your life and be your guide.