I loooooooove Christmas.

I’m trapped in the middle lane of excitement though. I’m an adult. (No, honest I am!) So I have a certain responsibility to behave in a relatively mature manner. But because I’m the baby of the family (and have managed to retain the title, despited numerous nieces and nephews and a few in the next generation), I fully subscribe to all the tinsel, lights & pressies! I still have a childlike excitement at the thought of ripping Christmas paper off stuff tomorrow 🙂

It’s my family’s fault, they forgot to remind me to grow up!

But… I am a bit sad today. LIke all special days, everything is bigger – including the stuff that’s missing. Like time with my mam, or my own kids to pass on the Christmas nonsense too.
I’m so grateful that my family let me insert myself into their Christmases, but I see them making their own new traditions with children and grandchildren. It’s circle of life stuff I know but some times I feel like my circle got a bit bashed up and every so often I come across a little dent…

I know I know… I have so much more than many people this Christmas. Believe me, I do know how fortunate and blessed I am to have so much and so many to share it with.

And of course there’s the Reason for the Season…! The first Christmas had family, but not a straightforward one! There were visitors and gifts, but in the middle of the joy of a newborn there must have been disappointment. I’m sure Mary would have preferred to have her baby in familiar and ‘CLEAN’ surroundings. And both her and Joseph must have been filled with fear and apprehension at what the future would bring. But in the midst of all that mess and uncertainty the Angel declared that it was “news that will cause great joy for all the people.” Luke 2:10

There is joy at Christmas, regardless of our circumstances…. and as they say, it’s not just for Christmas…. 🙂

One of my favourite lines from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future.”
I will enjoy my memories of the past, enjoy the season with my family and trust God for the future!

That’s my resolution… what’s yours 🙂

Happy Christmas everyone.
Thanks for reading/liking/following/commenting – much appreciated 🙂 xx