Christmas Day 2010

"Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!"

-2 Corinthians 9:15

It's easy to lose focus this time of the year.... to get caught up in the gifts, the food, the family, the friends, etc. etc. etc.  An added distraction for me this year was the hope/wonder of whether or not we would have a baby girl here celebrating with us or arriving in the midst of the celebration.  ((I'm pretty thankful she waited, but am praying the waiting is over soon -- hopefully my next blog will be an introduction of a sweet baby girl to our family)).

Back to the post at hand.... Todd & I really want Christmas to be about CHRIST for our boys.  We desire for them to grow up knowing the reason we celebrate is the GIFT we were given over 2000 years ago.  Even so, we do participate in LOTS of the typical holiday activities and enjoy doing so.  BUT first and foremost we try to make it a point to stop each day in December to read scriptures that surround the events of the birth of Jesus and remind the boys (& next year their sister too!) what Christmas and in reality, life is all about.  It was here, in the midst of scriptures that we began on Christmas morning.... reading of the awesome GIFT we received and reminding our boys what we are celebrating.

They are still too young to truly get it.  Yes, sometimes they can answer the questions right.... but you can tell by the look in their eyes what truly excites them during the Christmas season (the cookies, the lights, the gifts).  And I believe that's ok.... I anticipate a Christmas day down the road, maybe in 5 years, perhaps in 10 years, or maybe longer still  ((I do pray I am alive to witness it)) - where I will see their hearts humbled and their eyes focused on the true meaning, what the magic is all about.  Until then, we'll enjoy each season and pray that one day their hearts will open to a new understanding and that they will find that inexpressible joy we read about in Bible of the first Christmas so long ago.  ((In all honesty, I hope to experience this even more intensely myself in the years to come as well).

The pictures following fail to show much what I just mentioned being our top priority at Christmas, but they definitely do point to our 2nd priority of the season which is FAMILY (which is a whole different post that probably won't happen this year).

We are certainly blessed.