Christmas season is a time when I bring out alot of traditional decorations, ornaments and boxes filled with treasures from years gone by. Things have accumulated over the years, causing quite a large amount of work. Seriously, bringing out the old stuff and sorting through it is NOT my favorite part of the holiday! Eliot, Simon and Jesse all came to help me [aka Grammy ], sort things this year, and the joy and wonderment of their discoveries from last year certainly added an element of fun to the task.
Nora and Bianca were here as well, and I found Nora busily rummaging through a pile of stockings and bright red Santa hats, until she discovered a stocking with the word Nora scrawled across the top. Such relief, "Here's mine Grammy!!" she exclaimed in her big girl 5 year old voice. Bianca, even at three, had no idea what all the fuss was about, and she just kept dashing back and forth between the kitchen box pile and living room stocking pile.
After the kids left I had the work left still to accomplish: taking down the autumn leaves and Thanksgiving decorations and packing them away, deciding which pictures I could live without staring at for the next month , stashing things in places I would most likely not remember- all were part of the day's activities.
Of course in order to find room for the variety of Christmas treasures, I had to eliminate some older things, like perhaps that Santa with a baseball bat(broken) and one foot? he could go. I pitched out the tiny McDonald's give away stocking that had a cartoon character on it from another century, and an old candy cane stuck on the inside. How about Joshua's broken down toy train? Can't get rid of that yet because he might want to keep it for his kids someday, plus Ethan really loved putting the thing together when he came over on Sunday , so how can I throw that away? Tons of acquired ornaments crammed one box, so I didn't even open it, just set it aside for another day's sorting process, maybe the day I eventually got myself to the tree place and chose this year's beauty.
Speaking of beautiful trees, I don't even have room for a tree in my crowded living room, and besides, who cares? The kids have set into motion their own traditions, from going to the other relatives side to starting traditions we never embraced-the Jesse tree, the town parade, the Christmas plays, early morning wake up calls ....each family with it's own bent on Christmas. I even have one who is a non practicing Jewish/Christian family , sort of. What they do or not is beyond me, but not sure a tree in my house would impact their world right now. The cost, well , that could be a paragraph in itself! Who should spend $45.00 ot the minimum on a temporary 3 week decoration?Insanity! You are talking to a woman who had to work all summer at day camp after school, and still can't seem to find the funds for replacing either the furnace or sputtering van in the driveway! I repeat, insanity!
This past weekend I was decorated, had sorted out the stuff, made my home as close to the memories of warm and fuzzy as I could get, and a new tradition was being changed.
Becca and I have gone to a cabin in the woods on the first weekend in December and written Christmas cards, for as many years as Steve has gone hunting with his friends. Many.
This year, neither she nor I could gather the necessary money for such a luxury(albeit a delightful one!) so we decided to create cards at my home and play the music and light the candles and drink the cocoa in a different setting. The only thing I refused to allow Becca was to experience with the twins the campfire scene at night. I can be quite over-protective :-). As if by a scheduled super calendar, the snow began falling mid- afternoon. Some things are just gifts.
My life is very much a parallel to the Christmas season. Some good years, some not that great. Too much clutter, a bit emaotionally charged at times....some memories needing to be dropped, some traditions ok to hang onto. I love Christmas.
The tree? Happening today or tomorrow, cash or not, you can be certain of that.
The traditions? Changing as I go forward year to year, some better, some not as good, but remaining flexible to the possibilities I may not be aware exist.
The memories? Trying to trash the ones that bring me sadness, and embellish the ones that bring me JOY.
The boxes upon boxes of stuff? Not as easy to pare down to simply what is necessary, since I am emotionally wound tighter than a string of lights thrown into the box last season.
The reason for this writing and this season of Christmas?
"And again, Isaiah says, The root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations: the Gentiles will Hope in HIM."
"May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him,
so that you may overflow with Hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.(Romans 15:11-13)
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