If you have spent any time with me in December, you most likely know I’m not a huge Christmas person. I know, “bah humbug”. It’s not the twinkling lights, gifts, parties with friends - those things are all beautiful and heart warming. What I don’t like is the over-whelming consumption of STUFF. It’s not just other people’s consumption, but it’s my tendency to over consume also. It’s so tempting to buy and buy and buy - blessing everyone with cool stuff. (And there is some really cool stuff out there!). I’ve found with the passing years I’ve been purchasing less and less. This year the kids each got two gifts, Balin and I each 1 (from our nuclear family). Mom and Susie, if you’re reading this, I still like your gifts, so please continue.
The other element that make the holidays a little less than joyful for me is the fact that it is ALWAYS cold and dark out. This year we had snow, which actually made it lighter and brighter, but none-the-less, it’s a depressing time of year for me.
This year we changed things up a bit and it made the season significantly better. We served others. I signed up Christmas Eve to work at our church’s coffee shop from 3-7:30 and Balin and the kids signed up (ok, I signed them up) to serve as greeters at the last service of the evening. Not shockingly, it totally changed our experience. Isn’t that actually the truth of the Christmas season, that giving is better than receiving? Amen.
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| Sam and Balin ready to open the doors to some of the 4000 people that came to church over the 6 services. |
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| Sam, Perrin and Balin with one of our favorite pastors - Steve. He’s in charge of missions and outreach at our church. He’s a delight and a saint. |
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| Family Christmas Card - Enjoy! |
For the actual day of Christmas we had a nice day planned and we executed on it well. Knowing the kids no longer got up at 5am to open presents, we slow rolled the morning out. Balin prepared a nice breakfast and finally woke the kids at 11am to come and join us. We then took our time opening our presents, even Piper got to open her two gifts. Then it was nap/hang time followed by a snowy Christmas hike. We gave the kids a couple of options for a hike and they both agreed to stay close to home. Good thing as Sam decided that it was warm enough to hike in shorts. That lasted about an hour before he begged to go home because he was cold. Sigh. Makes for a good memory.
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