A Thrill of Hope

I love this time of year. The lights, the cookies, the time with friends and family, the music, the snow, the fireplace…all of it. In fact, most people I know love this time of year and it brings so much joy to their lives. However, there are people who feel alone and depressed in this season. People who have walked through hard seasons this year and the joy all around them is just too much. People who have lost someone this year don’t know how they can face the holidays without them around. Sadness is here, too. If you’re walking in sadness, that’s okay. Give yourself permission to continue to feel all the things you need to feel, because that’s how we heal. When we walk in seasons of feeling lonely or sad that doesn’t mean we can’t still continue traditions from the past. If you’ve lost someone this year or just someone who was the epitome of Christmas and they always had a tradition that you loved, you can carry that on. 

My grandpa Stan was basically Mr. Christmas. He absolutely loved this time of year. His house was decked out from top to bottom. The mantle on the fireplace had over 15 stockings hung on it, each one picked out specifically for the person it belonged to. The Christmas tree had a variety of ornaments on it and most of them have a story to go with them. The greatest thing he was known for was his Christmas town. That town was the biggest town my eyes had ever seen. He placed it together in a certain order and had little stories about the figurines in it. The year before he passed, he split the town apart and divided it amongst our family. We didn’t just get random sections, he gave us specific sections because those were the ones he would look at and think of us. As hard as it is some years to pull our section of the town out and put it up, I continue this tradition. I can look at our Christmas village and reminisce on all the memories made at my grandparents during Christmas. I can remember the times I helped him set up his town when I was growing up. I can rest in knowing that part of his life is now part of mine. 

Grandpa Stan wasn’t the only magical member of our family at Christmas. My mom, Lisa, also radiates love and joy during the Christmas season. I love how every year we spend together is just as magical as the year before. She’s always making the day we celebrate so special by continuing so many traditions she started when we were kids and adding new ones as we get older just to keep the spark going. On Christmas Eve my whole family attends the candlelight service at the church I grew up going to. I love taking this time to be intentional about celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus. Waking up Christmas morning at my parent’s house is always so magical. The house is filled with lights and Christmas cookies that mom spent the months of November and December preparing. I think that’s where I got my true love of baking for the holidays from. The stockings are stuffed to the brim with gifts picked out to fit each person specifically. You can tell Santa has been there because the cookies on his plate have been eaten and the milk has been drank. Mom is always pretty easy to wake up and the first thing she does is make homemade hot cocoa on the stove and a pot of coffee for my dad. I can’t remember a Christmas without hot cocoa made from scratch by my mom. We gather around the living room in our matching pajamas and just enjoy time together. Opening presents isn’t a rushed experience. We sit around the living room watching each person open their gifts and showing them off. It’s more about the intentional time as a family then it is about the gift. Even after losing my grandma Cherridah (my mother’s mom) and my grandpa Stan (my dad’s father) my mom keeps this tradition for us alive. 

Think back on all of your past Christmases. Think about the smallest of things that would happen year after year. For me it’s that homemade hot cocoa on Christmas tradition can you keep alive this year? What’s one routine  your family has done every year that you’re not willing to let die? Or, perhaps….what’s something new you need to start to help get yourself through the Christmas season if it is a time of sadness for you? 

Sister, it’s okay to be sad. Give yourself time to heal, but don’t let this magical season be ruined because life stinks right now. I know it’s hard, but that’s where character is built. At the end of the day, no matter what’s going on in your life…the best and most magical part of Christmas is that Jesus was born of a virgin. That is a gift to celebrate. So maybe your life isn’t filled with twinkle lights, perfectly iced cookies, or warm hot cocoa by the fire this year…but it is filled with the love of Jesus and that’s the biggest gift of all. 

As we go through the next few days remember the greatest gift there ever was….Jesus. 

“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” Matthew 1:23

xoxo, 

Rachel Marie