"This is the best Christmas ever!" This has been the recurring proclamation from our 11year old for the past three days. Over and over again she runs up to give us a big hug and then looks up at us with the most heartfelt smile and tells us again how this has been then best Christmas EVER! Oh how I love that girl and how I love her heart! While still embraced in her hug & looking down into her sincere eyes, I think back over the 24th & 25th and all the days leading up to them and my heart just overflows.
Months prior to Christmas day, Jim and I shared a burden to tweak our usual Christmas celebration this year. Being in the middle of adopting a daughter in China, we felt we didn't want to celebrate Christmas without being able to somehow include our China daughter, even though she is not yet here with us, but even more, we did not feel peace about spending money on each other while Ella-Mae waited in China for us to work toward saving enough to bring her home (--Despite the fact that we are working as quickly as possible). Also, we really felt burdened to be sure to focus our attention on the reason why we celebrate Christmas in the first place.
We talked about completely foregoing gift giving to each other this year as there really wasn't anything any of us "needed," but after more thought, we were reminded that EmmaMae had gotten her first real job this past summer and had worked hard to save her money to be able to purchase her own "real" gifts this year. She was so excited and we did not want to take from her the joy of hard work and giving. So after a lot of prayer, toward the end of October our family sat down together, and Jim and I shared our burden. Our family talked over everything and, as a family, made the decision that this year for Christmas we would like to do two things different. First, we were going to limit gift-giving to right around $10 or less and secondly we were going to hold a Family Christmas Program this year. We have a savings fund which is set aside soley for Christmas that we add to each month , so while we do not usually go crazy buying gifts on Christmas, we do usually allow a little more liberty with our spending than $10. We wanted everyone to still be able to give from the heart, not to encourage buying something just to give "something," so we weren't quite sure how this would work, but we trusted God would work it out however He saw fit. Spending $40 or less total for Christmas this year though, would allow us to give the remainder of the fund to Ella-Mae for her adoption. It certainly would not amount to the $40,000+ total it will cost to bring her home to her family, but it would allow us to include her in our Christmas and we know God makes every little bit count. The second change this year, the Family Christmas Program would be on Christmas Eve after our church's candle light service. This was actually something inspired from Christmas Eve get-togethers when I was little at my Grandmother's house. Aunts, Uncles and cousins would all gather for a meal at Grandma's house. Afterward we'd sing songs, read poems etc. Anyone who wanted to would share something and then we'd exchange gifts. I remember as a young girl, practicing songs with my Grandma to sing that special night. It was always a time that brought joy to my heart and a time I felt really helped to focus attention to the ONE whom Christmas is all about. That tradition stopped after my Grandma passed away when I was only 9yo, but I never forgot it. Knowing there are only 4 in our family, we knew likely it was going to be a very short program, but we figured it had to begin somewhere and hopefully it will grow as our family grows. Each person in our family would choose something to share during the program, whether it be a poem, story, song etc. to focus our hearts and minds on God's gift to us and to thank Him for the gift of His Son. (This tweak we are planning to become a new family tradition for every Christmas.)
The rest of October sped by, as well as Nov. with the celebration of Thanksgiving. We sped through the first couple weeks of December too as we put together an online Holiday Auction as a fund raiser for Ella-Mae's adoption. Then came the realization that Christmas was only a couple of weeks away. The next couple weeks were filled with Daddy-Daughter dates to Christmas shop for mom and Mommy-Daughter dates to shop for Dad. Mommy-Grandma dates to shop for Emm and Mom & Dad dates just because (& to shop for kiddo). Emma Mae had picked out what she wanted to give Grandma this summer and shopping for Grandma was just as easy for Jim and I. We all kept an eye open for sales and cut coupons and I watched as God blessed our $10 per person and excitement grew about what we were going to be able to give. I believe with all my heart if we'd have had a million dollars each to spend I don't think we'd have done anything differently! God led us to just the perfect gifts for each other! During those weeks I also began to hear singing from our daughter's room, and little comments were made about what each person was planning for our Family Christmas program. Everyone was excited and our focus was on Christ!--My heart smiled!
The days continued to race by and Christmas eve arrived. We all got dressed and ready for our church's candlelight service. It was a wonderful service and we left with our hearts glowing. When we came home I fixed dinner and then we began our Family Christmas Program. As it turned out, each person had actually taken time to prepare 2 things to share, with the exception of Jim who had chosen a rather lengthly story as his one share. Grandma started us off by reading a passage of scripture she'd prepared. EmmaMae followed by singing one of the songs she'd been practicing. We all took turns until finally Jim read us the story he'd picked out. After everyone had their turn we finished out the evening singing old Christmas hymns together. That night I tucked Emm into bed while she chatted about the evening and shared her giddy excitement for the next day and my heart was full. Our Christmas was all about Christ--the way it should be.
Christmas day came and we managed to make it last all day long. We opened stocking gifts in the morning (Yes, God somehow stretched Jim's & my $10 apiece so that we were even able to buy stocking gifts for everyone in addition to our actual gift! - This Christmas felt a little like the familiar story of the loaves & fishes!) We enjoyed our traditional quiche for breakfast. Jim and Emm spent the late morning enjoying each other's company while playing with the lego set she'd gotten. We Skyped with Grandma & Papaw in the early afternoon, enjoyed a tasty meal together for dinner and then finally in the evening sat down together to give our gifts. We took turns opening one gift at a time. When all was opened, each of us was holding a little token of love in the gifts we'd been given. There were no gifts given that we absolutely needed or that we couldn't have lived without, but each one was evidence that we'd paid attention to each other's routines, likes and interests. God had taken the $10 apiece, had blessed it abundantly and had allowed us all to give from our hearts! After we'd had the chance to love each other through our gifts I took out a little birthday cake. I stuck a candle in it, lit it and everyone gathered around to sing Happy Birthday to our King, born as a baby only so he could give his life so that we could be adopted as children of His Father. Emmerson asked if she could sing one of the songs she'd sang the night before for our program, "Happy Birthday Jesus" then we all sang the traditional Happy Birthday song as a praise and thank you to our Savior. We finished off the night siting there eating our little piece of cake talking about God's gift to us.
Our hearts were so full that night as we went to bed. Christmas had been so simple, and yet, so blessed. As I sit here my heart is overflowing with the truth that this really was the best Christmas ever--but that next year will be too! I believe every year will continue to be the best Christmas ever as long as we surrender our hearts and lives to our Lord and allow Him to use us for the purpose He has created us for--because every Christmas we celebrate the best gift ever and regardless of circumstance that gift will never change. We have a God that loved us enough, while sinners, to send His Son to the humbled existence of a human baby, with the sole purpose of dying in our place so that we could become Princes and Princesses of the most High. That is the best Christmas ever!
