Merry Christmas

As I contemplate Christmases past, I have some funny/fond memories. Most of our Christmases have been filled with family and friends. There was one when Martha was pregnant with our eldest and we couldn't travel. The doctor said it wasn't a good idea. We lived about 13 hours from both sets of parents so we stayed home. Nobody came to visit. We ended up eating Christmas dinner with an elderly couple from church. It was fun.
Another time we intended to go to Searcy to visit for the holiday. We had skipped Thanksgiving because we lived (live) in Nebraska. Making two trips in such a short period of time was just too much. We were concerned about our weather because you know about Nebraska winters. Turns out Arkansas had one of the worst ice storms in history and we couldn't make it home because of the weather in the South!
One year we put our Christmas tree upstairs. The upstairs portion of the house was Nate's room and we seldom went up there. But there was a nice window up there and the tree looked so pretty. But in our life of chaos, the tree stayed up until March. Please understand that we didn't turn the lights on, but the tree stayed up there in all its splendor. I wonder what the neighbors thought. Hey, they left their lights up all the time. Why should it matter if I left up the tree?
Each year as I place the ornaments on the tree, I remember places we've been and people we love. It's our tradition to buy ornaments on trips we make. Friends will give us ornaments. And they become an instant memory as we place them on the tree. "Remember when we bought this?" "Ahh, this came from..."
I know some holiday seasons are times for grief or stress. But I ask you to remember fondly the reason why we give gifts, the reason why we sing "sleep in heavenly peace," and remember how much God loves you and how much our family loves you. Have a wonderful Christmas. Merry Christmas!! I'll see you next year. JW