Christmas has come and gone and I’m I’m sitting in bed with my laptop and a cup of coffee, thinking about what I’ve learned during this Christmas holiday season. At this time of year, few sights evoke more feelings of cheer and goodwill than the twinkling lights of a Christmas tree. We had a lovely Christmas, filled with family, friends, and laughter, as well as tears from missing those who are now gone. Precious memories were made and I’ll always cherish them.
What I’ve Learned at Christmas
1. Christmas is exhausting. Cooking, cleaning, decorating, baking, hosting, shopping, wrapping means that the day after Christmas I’m a zombie. Don’t get me wrong, I love doing all of it and I go way over the top as dictated by my Southern female ancestors, but I’m pretty sure we all lose a screw in the heat and humidity during the summer and this is our of showing we can do winter things with the best of folks.
It has been in the 70’s the past few days, with epic rainfall in spots, so Christmas has been a wet, humid affair. My cookie bake-a-thon was shortened and I’m pretty sure the electric company was yelling “CHA-CHING” every time they looked at my power usage.
2. Santa may be a masochist. We’re set up as kids to know that Santa was this magical being who leaves presents and HE’S AMAZING!! When we have children, we’re “SANTA WAS AMAZING AND I’M GOING TO BE SANTA!!”
Reality inevitably sets in.
Don’t get me wrong, I love every bit of the insanity, I do. However, when you go to bed at 2am and are awakened at 4am by excited people who can’t wait a minute longer, you’re hoping Santa left a little scotch in the glass of an early morning quaff. (We have left Santa scotch and cookies for years. He appreciates it, even if I’m the one who puts everything together.)
Santa Claus has elves who help, why doesn’t he share them with us?
3. Christmas is a time of great sadness. There are so many people who are alone for Christmas, who have lost loved ones, and the painful, beautiful memories.
“It also allows us to reflect on the year that has passed, as we think of those who are far away or no longer with us.
Many people say the first Christmas after losing a loved one is particularly hard. But it’s also a time to remember all that we have to be thankful for.
It is true that the world has had to confront moments of darkness this year, but the Gospel of John contains a verse of great hope, often read at Christmas carol services: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it”. ~ Queen Elizabeth
There is such great longing of so many who have no one. They want to be loved, to be remembered, to be accepted, and to feel that kinship with another person.
The memories may not get to me so much on the day, as they do at other times during the holiday season. Like when I’m making my late-Grandmother’s cookies, remembering the last time I made them with her. Or feeling the presence of my Grandfather who loved Christmas so much and wishing I had one more with him. Missing my Daddy so much I can’t breathe, but we’re two incredibly strong willed persons who…sometimes the hurts you hold onto seem like the only thing you have left.
I’m so incredibly lucky to have the people in my life that I do and for this huge family that always rallied around each other in love, even if at times we thought it was pure nosiness. These relationships are something I will never take for granted and is why I’ll always continue my family tradition of inviting people to our homes for Christmas who would be alone.
4. Christmas is a time for love and hope. In the weeks and months leading up to Christmas, our world has experienced great tragedy and loss. We live in a time of great change, of fear, and the unknown. Yet I stood in church on Christmas Eve and remembered my great-grandmother, Lola Jane, saying “it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness” while we were lighting our candles during the singing of Silent Night. I took it as a sign when Queen Elizabeth shared the same thought during her Christmas Day message.
Christmas truly is a time for hope and love. To take that message of peace and love, of acceptance, and care for thy fellow man. Mary and Joseph’s plight reminded me as I read the Christmas story:
And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. Matthew 2:13 — KJV
I hope that for anyone who is hurting, for those who have had to flee their homes, that they are all given a place by the innkeeper, even if it’s in the metaphorical stable, no matter where it may be.
