Love came down at Christmas
Love, a lovely love divine
Love was born at Christmas
Stars and angels gave the sign
Love will be our token
Love be yours, and love be mine
Love from God to all of us
Love for plea and gift a sign
~ Christina Rossetti
Elena sang this carol at church a few days ago. A few days later I heard the Jars of Clay version. I wasn't familiar with the carol, but it's become my favorite of the season. Despite my best preparations, the few days we spent out of town just before Christmas caused me to spend the two days before Christmas scrambling to get the last few things done. I found myself running errands the morning of Christmas eve and quickly settling into a gloomy funk. Grumpy over cookies not decorated, feeling guilty about activities I'd planned for the kids that we never got around to doing, missing my family. And then this song came on the radio.
I am notorious for planning too much, for expecting perfection, for getting easily frustrated when things don't go according to plans. As I listened to the lyrics, I realized I have a choice. I can focus on the details of Christmas, and in return drive myself and my family crazy. Or I can focus on the love.
I chose love. It hasn't been a perfect Christmas, if you pay attention to the details. The cookies still aren't decorated. There were tears when we thought the Wii was broken. Tempers flared when Eli's monstrosity of a race track wouldn't come together properly (was there ever more dreaded phrase than Adult Assembly Required?). I still miss my family.
But there is so much love. Love for and from my children, who were ecstatic this morning and who are still floating on a cloud of happiness. Love for and from my husband, who wants nothing but the best for me and our family. Love for and from my family, who support me in all I do. Love for and from my faithful readers of this blog, who encourage me with their kind words to pursue a passion for writing. And last, but most important, love for and from Christ, without whom none of this would be possible.
Merry Christmas to you and yours. May your day be filled with love.
thanks for posting this – I’ve been biting my tongue all day because I had set this beautiful table for Christmas dinner – bread and butter plates, salad plates. Well, darling husband messed it all up by bringing the steaks to the table, and then proclaimed that we had “too many plates”. Grrr. I asked him if he was raised in a barn, then reminded him (in a not so nice tone) that he should use the silverware from the outside in. He didn’t.
ANd you are right – none of it matters. The perfectly beautiful dinner that we had TOGETHER is what matters, not the plates and silverware.
Im glad it helped! It sounds so easy to do – just let it all go and live in the moment, but its much easier said than done. Im learning to pick my battles. Some things just arent realistic in this stage of life (a perfectly decorated house, a beautiful sit-down dinner), but a few things are worth it because they make you happy and make the holiday brighter for you. Me? I cant do without homemade cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. I think the key for sanity around this time of year is figuring out what means the most to you and letting the other stuff go.
http://www.justlikethenumber.com