Merry Christmas!!

The time is drawing near, this most holy day of the year, when we remember the first gift of Christmas, a baby in a manger. As a child, my eyes were on the gifts under the tree, wondering if that special one would be there under the cheery Christmas wrap and ribbons.

As an adult my focus is not on the value of the gifts but on the love that went into them.

My sister, Rosanne, has spent a lot of time over several years scrapbooking the 12 Days of Christmas ornaments for all her siblings, finishing this year. What treasures of the heart they are. My favorite, a picture of me with my first horse, Pokey, embellished with stamps she had saved from previous Christmas cards of Zoe and Sadie with baby, Mollie.

 

Our 91 yr old church organist, Bernice, still makes her special pickles for the chosen ones because she knows how much we love them. You can tell who gets the gift packages by the look of delight on their faces as they peer inside.

We had supper with our friends, Swains, last night and daughter, Lisa had a Christmas stocking stuffed  with goodies for us and all our animals, from the kale for the chickens, to cat treats and toys, dog treats, and apples for the horses.

A special gift from our Sunday school children, who put on the story of that first Christmas morning so long ago, complete with a live Baby Jesus, who, in real life, was Lily in a red velvet dress.

The gift of time spent with family gets more precious all the time, I'm blessed with two great families and lots of friends who are family.

The gift that came back to us on Sunday night at our small church's traditional caroling party with food afterwards. I made a kettle of soup but Barb put her heart and soul into not only chili, but everything you could think of to go with it, a big basket of hot chocolate mix with 2 kinds of marshmallows, a large tray of goodies and all the bowls, napkins and spoons to eat and she does it with a smile and kind spirit. We had a very small crowd show up, it was a cold night and I was thinking, "Why do we even bother?" Then we were at the nursing home where Bruce's Aunt Vera lives, suffering the effects of a severe stroke that left her paralyzed  and not very communicative. Seeing her mouthing the words of those old, familiar carols, along with us, made me realize, 'This is why we bother.'

But the best gift I ever received is my loving husband, Bruce, who is kind and patient.

 He takes the time every day, sometimes several times, to acknowledge his faithful dog, Mollie as she expresses her sheer delight at seeing him. This is the most important part of her day and he doesn't disappoint her.

 

I hope your Christmas is tail-wagging great and spent with people you love.