After Christmas dinner with the family, we return home to
the quiet. I am always sad to let her go—there’s a lonely feeling in discarded
tissue paper and half-eaten platters of sweets. I put away all our leftovers
and wash up the dishes littering the counter and the corners of my mind. Then
we take Lucy Mae for her Christmas walk under Christmas stars. It’s cold, but
not as cold as it should be and I love being under the blanket of the sky with
my two growing boys. I show them The Seven Sisters and this sparks a discussion
about the seven deadly sins. We name them all--shuddering a little at gluttony.
It’s a beautiful night and I feel Christmas shining bright with the starry sky.
When we get back home, the lights are on and how can
Christmas shine so bright just now and be gone in a few hours? And I start
thinking about saying goodbye to Christmas.
“It’s almost over,” I say to Jeff.
“Thank God,” he says, with a deep sigh. And I laugh but I
still feel a little sad.
I can carry Christmas in my heart all year but it’s not the
same if the world keeps spinning and no one notices. And just when I think
Christmas is over, he comes down stairs and casually asks, “Hey, mom? Are you
busy right now?”
And I say no and he takes me upstairs and gets out his
guitar and he plays me some Christmas songs. I’m sitting on the floor amidst
discarded jeans and the brown paisley comforter that was kicked off the bed in
his sleep—I’m in this tangled up place listening to Silent Night, note by note.
And I think, I don’t care if the world keeps spinning and
churning. I’m taking Christmas with me.
***
Hop on over to The High Calling to read about another one of my Playdates and learn about our new book club selection for the New Year!
How do you embrace the God-joy? Every Monday I’ll
be sharing one of my Playdates with God. I would
love to hear about yours. It can be anything:
outside, quiet time. Maybe it’s solitary. Maybe
it’s loud and crowded. Just find Him. Be with Him.
And come tell us about it.
Grab my button at the bottom of the page and join us:
Sharing with L.L. Barkat today also:
And with Lindsay for Messy Mondays.
16 comments:
This sounds divine--all of it.
With the connections you made here, back and forth, from starlit sky to bedroom floor, you have me looking forward to the constellations of conversations that will form in our home, once my boys enter their teenage years.
Beautiful post. Spend as much time as you possibly can on that messy floor this year ...
What beautiful gifts, Christmas under a starry sky, sounds of Silent Night, and being with loved ones.
I'm glad you got to share in peace and joy of the the guitar Silent Night, and that you were able to find the time and energy to do so many fond-memory-making Christmas activities.
I didn't get around to telling you before -- but yes, I certainly am praying for you and your Epiphany sermon -- and for God to bestow on you everything you need to feel the touch of his glory, yes, and rest!
Beautiful post, reminding us that the love, joy and peace of Christmas need not end if we carry them in our hearts. God's blessings to you and yours,
Laurie
Such a beautiful mental picture. I treasure those quiet times as much as the hoopla of opening the gifts. I had of few of those and felt like they were the "real" gifts.
That is what the heart of Christmas is!
Some people call today the 2nd day of christmas, out of 12.
I'm with Jeff... pack it away! But keep singing the song. Always keep singing.
peace~elaine
We were driving through the neighborhood this evening, admiring the colorful Christmas lights wrapped around trees and lamp posts and bushes, and I wondered how to carry the sweet little moments, the quiet meditation, the "joy to the world" into the rest of winter, into the year ahead, into everyday, ordinary life.
Then I think of the carol that reminds us: "O come to us, abide with us/Our Lord Emmanuel."
God with us. The lights will be packed up, but Christ abiding with us? That's for always.
I will admit to echoing your husband often. I am usually relieved it's all over, especially with a daughter's birthday on the 29th. But for my child to play the guitar and let me just sit and listen in the middle of life's evidence without trying to clean it all up, that would keep me welcoming Christmas, continuing in peace.
Merry Christmas to you and your family, Laura.
Christmas is so slow to arrive and too quickly over!
This is beautiful. I am taking Christmas with me too!
I've always hated when I see Christmas trees tossed out the day after Christmas... A problem that has come from our celebrating so early.. I feel as you do... let's not end it too soon. Did you know the 12 days of Christmas start AFTER the 25th? :) I used to think they were before. It's still Christmas in my mind...
"I'm in this tangled up place listening to Silent Night."
And I think we all sit in these tangled up places. And He comes in the silence.
So I'm thinking that though I wasn't into Christmas this year, I'm taking it with me, too.
this is magical. i was just talking to my husband today about that post-christmas let-down. it seems everything waits for christmas, especially for those of us who work in retail. it's the huge climactic close of the year, and then we begin again. i prefer your gentle way of taking christmas with us.
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