Keep Christmas with you

It's Christmastime!!  By far my favorite time of the year.  I love it all - the lights, the smells, the presents, the shopping, the cooking, the eating, the laughing and the celebration of God's great love for us.  I credit my parents with my love for Christmas.  Whether intentionally or not, they made Christmas a magical time for us every year.  I remember Dad putting together the Christmas Village on the window seat at our home in Edgewood, MD complete with streets made of tape and fake snow in the window.  I remember opening the pictures on the advent calendar and reading the verses that lead us up to Christmas day.  I remember big, fat colored Christmas lights, hunting for Christmas trees with my family, drinking mom's real eggnog, and sitting under the lit-up tree while Dad told us the gospel story using the tree as his text.

As I've grown older, I have striven not to lose that magical feeling.  I've watched as others my age and older grow focused on the things that hide the beauty of this season.  So much complaining and frustration, so much commercialization and stress, so much focus on money and things and so little time spent on soaking in the joys and blessing of the season. I don't care who you are... bright colored lights against a night sky is pretty!  Decorated trees are beautiful, Christmas cookies are tasty, ringing bells are festive and the Nativity Story is timeless.  Even if you can't handle the Christmas sales and shopping and the hustle and bustle of the season (which some of us still enjoy, believe it or not), you can always stop and appreciate what is there and see the mystery and awe of the celebration.

And you may see it in the most unusual places; places that you may associate with the "worst" of the Christmas season, places like... Walmart.  I think Walmart probably epitomizes to most of my friends who are frustrated with Christmas all the things that have gone wrong with the season.  Walmart is all about money - bottom line, Christmas is nice and all but how do we get the most money out of this season?  They are a business and they run like one.  And, I don't care if it's Christmas or not, we tend to not like the big-box business that Walmart represents.

Yesterday, I went to that soulless place to buy groceries and finish (again) my Christmas shopping.  As I walked in, I instantly felt uncomfortable because there were police officers everywhere.  I thought maybe the store had been robbed or there was a fugitive on the loose or something equally terrible had happened.  But soon I realized the cops were there for another reason.   A beautiful reason.  A Christmas reason.  I watched as families who were hurting financially this Christmas season were assigned a police officer that took them over to the toy section of the store with a calculator and credit card in hand.  I watched an officer get down on his knees beside a little boy who looked scared to ask for anything and say, "How about a bike, buddy?  Would you like a bike for Christmas?" and then watched as this little boy's eyes grew wide with astonishment and cried, "Can I really? A new bike for me?" and threw his arms around the officer's neck. I watched a father quietly tell the officer he was with how grateful he was for this service, how he'd never been out of a job before and he didn't know how he would be able to get even one gift for his kids if it wasn't for them.  I watched a young single mom walk through the infants section filling up on things like clothes, diapers, wipes and blankets for her little one and the young officer with her saying, "Are you sure you don't want to get any toys?" while she quietly shook her head and said, "This is what we really need."  Over and over again, I had to go hide in another aisle and wipe away my tears as I watched children laugh, fathers cry, mothers hug and officers glow.

I could tell you about the other things I saw at Walmart.  I saw sales and high prices.  I saw carts full of toys and trinkets that would probably break in a week.  I saw commericialization and depersonalization of Christmas.  I saw all of that too.  Because it's all there.  All the time.  But that's not what I left the store remembering.  I saw Christmas, the real magical Christmas I have loved my whole life.  And I have the chance to pass on that legacy to my kids.  There will always be reason to find things that wrong with the season.  I'm not going to defend them and say that they are right.  But I am going to choose to find the reasons for joy and to teach my children to do the same.  We are going to celebrate together the love the we commemorate at Christmas.  We are going to ooo and ahh over lights and eat way too many cookies.  We are going to carol to our neighbors and watch Christmas movies.  We are going to sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and remember once again that God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son.  And we are going to enjoy all the season has to offer because you know what, it's worth enjoying.  At the end of my kids time in our home, I doubt they remember how commericalized and empty the Christmas season is "out there".  I bet they remember how beautiuful, love-filled, and Christ-centered Christmas was "in here".

When I was little Sesame Street had a song in one of their episodes that I never forgot.  I leave you with these thoughts and a reminder that Christmas is what you make of it.  "Keep Christmas with you, all through the year.  When Christmas is over, save some Christmas cheer.  These precious moments hold them very dear and keep Christmas with you, all through the year."

The Punch Bowl

So, way, way back in June as Luke and I were sorting out what we were going to trash, what we were going to sell, what we were going to store and what was coming with us, we came across the punch bowl.  I love my punch bowl.  I got it on clearance at Pfaltzgraff right before the outlet in Gettysburg closed down.  It was only $7!  A beautiful punch bowl with pretty cups that hung off the edge and a ladle for dipping out delicious goodness.

For someone like me, the punch bowl meant one thing - people are coming to my house, lots of them, and we are going to party!  After all, you don't really pull a punch bowl for one or two guests and certainly not just for the kids and Luke and me.  No, you pull out the punch bowl when you have something to celebrate.  You pull it out when plain old lemonade and ordinary soda/pop/coke won't do.  You pull it out when those things need mixed together and a good dose of ice cream or sherbert or frozen yogurt gets added to the mix and it creates a delicious concoction of bubbly, frosty goodness that just makes everything a little bit more special.

As you can tell, my punch bowl has some deeper meaning for me.... I'm odd that way.  So, imagine with me what it was like when my dear, normal husband held up that average, nondescript punch bowl and said, "What about this?  It's kinda big and we probably won't be having a bunch of people over in our new house.  Should we store it?"

STORE IT?!?  You mean, in the next four years we will not have an occasion to invite people over for a celebration of any kind?  For four years, our house will be too small to allow for celebratory get-togethers and times of community and fellowship?  I'm pretty sure the look on my face and the tears in my eyes took my poor unsuspecting husband completely aback.  The rational side of me understands why.  The "me" side of me could only think of four years of no parties, no get-togethers, no happy times of appetizers and desserts and punch.  And honestly, I thought of all the many times we'd had people over in our last house and all the joy those walls had held and, yeah, there was no way that punch bowl was going into storage.

So, it came.  It got put up on the shelf in the laundry room.  It was big, took up a lot of space and was useful only for stacking boxes of K cups on.  Until last night.  Last night, a bunch of ladies came down to my house to exchange unbaked rolls of cookie dough for our Christmas cookies this year.  And I, well, I couldn't let a bunch of friends come over and not leave without something tasty to eat.  I am Italian after all.  I made some dips and cheeseballs, some dessert and fruits and veggies and then it hit me.  This was a punch bowl moment.  We were going to eat and play games and laugh and talk about Christmas and punch was definitely needed!  I didn't have the ingredients for my normal punch but I threw together what I had and pulled out the bowl.

And there it was.  In my new house.  My new house that while smaller than my last was still big enough to celebrate.  My new house where food and friends and fun all fit just fine and where warmth and joy still filled the air. We listened to Kenny G play Christmas carols as we played silly holiday games and ate yummy food and exchange our Christmas treats.  One by one as my friends trickled out and the house got quieter and the after-gathering mess was there, I smiled!!  My house was a home.  I didn't even mind washing the dishes and cleaning up because it meant, life had happened in my tiny space in Wilmore.

The punch bowl is back up in the laundry room with stuff stacked on top of it but my girls have already asked for it to come out at Christmas time.  Who said the punch bowl didn't get used for just us?  Oh yeah, me.  Well, I can change my mind on that too or, more likely, we'll have some friends over to share our celebration with us

A Million and One

I have a million and one things to do today.  We just got back from our Thanksgiving trip to Indiana where I spent five wonderful days relaxing, eating, hanging out with my family, eating, watching movies, eating, snuggling my handsome nephew, eating, and .... well, eating.  Its funny how things change through the years.  It used to be for me that going to Indiana was leaving home and going somewhere else but since moving, going to Indiana feels like going home from another place.  When you are constantly surrounded by unfamiliar things, the familiar things take on an even more special, deeper meaning.
 

Like this morning when I was driving to the grocery store and I called my sister, not for any other reason than I wanted to hear her voice.  Like when we opened up our Christmas boxes and started decorating our tree and I marveled at each ornament like it was the first time I'd seen them or when I hug our stockings and got all choked up because we've had them for so many years.  Or like when I pour myself a cup of coffee with Peppermint Mocha in the evening and enjoy the lights on the tree and the smell of pine in my home.  All wonderful, cozy, warm familiar things that just make my heart fill with peace and joy.

The other day I crossed a big line for me in Kentucky.  I went to Walmart (okay, not such a big deal) AND I knew people there!! Several people.  As in more than one person said, "Oh, hi!  How are you?"  And today a man stopped me and asked me for directions AND I knew where to tell him to go!  I guess that "Oh my gosh, where in the world am I?" look has finally disappeared.  And, even more special, when we pulled back into Kalas with our Charlie Brown christmas tree and our minivan bulging with luggage and shopping bags and all the mess kids can make in 3 hours ina car, we were greeted with smiles and waves and texts and all kinds of love.  It felt, much to my surprise, familiar.

One day, we will pull into Wilmore to visit from wherever we finally end up and I will take a big deep breath and say, "Ah, this feels like home."  And I'm starting to figure out what the common denominator is.  It has a lot less to do with surroundings and environments and a lot more to do with people and love.  It's not really the size of the house or the quaintness of the town but the ones who fill the homes and make up the town.  It's not even that we always agree on everything or that we even all like the same things; it's that in the midst of each moment you know love is present, faith is shared and life is lived.

This will be the first time I have been away from my immediate family on Christmas Eve.  I think because they are awesome they are holding the traditional celebration until we can join them after Christmas but still, on Christmas Eve I will not be eating too much shrimp with my brothers, laughing over memories with my sister, sharing a cup of coffee with my dad or helping kids open presents with my mom.   So that will be hard.  However, I'm starting to learn (starting!) that just because things change it doesn't mean it's bad and just because something is unfamiliar to start doesn't mean it won't become a beloved familiar moment in the future.

My kids love Phineas and Ferb and, let's be honest, so do I.  One of the things I love about the show is that those kids live in the moment.  In fact, they personify Carpe Diem and never let a moment slip away without making it the best day ever.  Hmmm, I'm thinking there is something to that!  My life has been richly blessed with family and friends from many places; some I haven't even met in person but have forged a deep friendship with over many shared letters and chats with each other (Annie Conti, I mean you!)  I would love to gather them all up and put every single one in a room and just be with each one but you know, that just wouldn't be as special.  The moments we share together, while maybe not as often as we like, are special because they are when we are together.  Not a crowd, but a time where we slow down, enjoy the moments and bask in the famliarity of family and friends.  I don't want to miss a moment - not here in Kentucky, not when I go to Indiana, and not when I'm with my family and friends in Pennsylvania.  I want to "carpe diem" the daylights out of this life and treasure each time I get to spend it with others God has brought into my life.

We have reached the end of our first semester... can you believe it?  Luke will be taking finals next week (prayers would be awesome) and we will get a little break until classes start back up again in February.  I will start working again in January and Luke is taking on a job as well.  God continues to bless us by providing for our schooling needs and we feel so encouraged by the support we are being shown by both the seminary and the Brethren in Christ denomination.  We still don't know exactly what the "future" looks like but I have a million and one reasons to believe that God has got that under control.  For now, I'm just gonna "carpe diem" where I'm at and thank the Lord for the many blessings (YOU!) He has given us.