Christmas Morning

It is Christmas morning, and it is quiet. Sunny, clear and cold. A beautiful white Christmas. The only noise I hear is the fire crackling in the woodstove as the hot coals greet the newest piece of wood I placed upon them. There are no cars driving along the road outside our home. Everyone is where they want to be ... or have to be.

My wife and I opened presents this morning. They were a few simple, thoughtful gifts. Exactly the way we had planned. Then we picked up the house to prepare for family. Putting the extension in the dining room table, setting the table, putting the presents under the tree. Jude is doing some cooking now, and I am doing some writing. Working on another blog and a newsletter article.

I texted a couple of my kids this morning. “Wake up! Santa came!” It is what I used to say to them when they were children. Often I accompanied this Christmas greeting with a little bit of snow, just to help them open their eyes. They would come downstairs in their pajamas to the smell of Monkey Bread and see stockings stuffed with toys and goodies.

We no longer do the stockings. But perhaps someday we will again. I dream of a Christmas when grandchildren (perhaps little Elijah) will wake up in our home. I will wake them up early, while it is still dark, with the assistance of a little snow, if necessary.

Later today our boys, their wives and three of our grandkids will be coming to our house. (Our daughter, her husband and our grandson Elijah are in western Pennsylvania, and cannot make it.) I will build an open fire in the fireplace in the dining room for the occasion. We will return thanks to God for the food and for His Son. Then we will eat the best meal of the year.

I don’t know why I love Christmas as much as I do. I guess it is the child inside me that comes out. Perhaps it is also the Christ inside me who comes out. It is his birthday after all. He will attend where two or three or nine are gathered in his name. In any case it is a blessed Christmas day today.