It's been awhile since I blogged, basically due to a lack of time and helping out with members of our family. Things have definitely been busy during the past year, Thanksgiving is behind once again and Christmas is just around the corner. I had a heart procedure done the first of November so for Thanksgiving we didn't go to extremes with our decorating. We had a nice traditional Thanksgiving dinner with all the family home for the holidays. I am grateful that I could prepare dinner with the help of my daughter.
This year I've decided to decorate with the Manger scene, Wise Men and all. Oh how I love Christmas! We have done a little more extensive decorating this year than usual. I'm not sure why, but with all the troubles in the U.S. I feel we need to get back to the basics of living and celebrating the birth of Jesus. After all, that is what Christmas is all about, at least in our family.
Too many times we get caught up in buying presents that we forget the true meaning of Christmas. I was informed this week by an 11-year-old that there is no Santa Claus. I immediately stated this "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, just as long as you believe it in your heart!" I recall Christmases past of decorating a simple cedar tree that we would all go out in the woods and find, chop it down and put it up just in time for Christmas Eve. We begged Mom to put a tree up earlier than Christmas Eve every year, but no amount of pleading would persuade her to put up a tree until the moment she thought was the proper time to put one up.
Back then, it was simple to decorate a tree. We didn't have much money so we made little rings of construction paper and pasted them together to form a chain of many colors for our tree. We always had icicles and garland to adorn our tree, and sometimes we would have candy canes. I always thought those were the prettiest decorated trees I had ever seen, and still hold those memories dear to my heart. Mom had a single strand of lights that were shaped like candles. The lights gave the appearance of lit candles, forever flickering with hope of Christmas blessings. We kids each received one small gift which was something we really wanted and a bag with fruit, nuts and candy. The candy was "ribbon candy". One year I received a rubber doll for Christmas and still had that doll when I grew up.
I now look at all the many presents that parents present their children with and wonder how a parent ever expects a child to understand the true meaning of Christmas with all those many toys to choose from. I look beyond the mere opening of presents and think how difficult it might be for children when they grow up and try to be able to afford so many gifts for their own children. I always saw to it that my children had what they needed but never took it to extremes.
I leave you with this thought (not sure who this quote is from):
"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass; it is about learning to dance in the rain".
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