Merry Belated Christmas!! (actually written on Christmas)

It’s comin on Christmas.

We’re cuttin down trees

Puttin up reindeer and singin songs of joy and peace

I wish I had a river I could skate away on.

Merry Christmas to all! I hope you are having a wonderful day. (yesterday)

Holidays are such a strange and wonderful thing. We put so many expectations on them. We expect them to be special, fun, full of love and laughter - we also expect huge issues - family drama, tears, yelling, etc. Inevitably all these things go down. Our expectations are met. There are moments of pure joy and beauty. There are moments of annoyance and inescapable frustration. Every Christmas I have a few very poignant moments where I wish I had a river to skate away on. I can’t take it anymore. I need to ditch the family and find myself an easy man and a stiff drink. hehe. Too bad both those things are off my list this year. My options are limited. Stick it out or...stick it out. The beauty of sticking with your family and the holidays when they aren’t fun or magical is that GRACE kicks in. The spirit of the season bonks you on the head and in an instant you are out of the funk. a bell rings. an angel gets it’s wings. and the spirit of Christmas saves your day once more.

Hearing my Dad sing the first verse of Silent Night in German ( a tradition from WWI) is almost always the highlight of the my Christmas season. There is something magical about the tone of his voice, the sincerity of the song, and the simple beauty of the candlelight in a darkened church. It is one of the most magical moments of Christmas. One that absolutely never disappoints. I have a clip of it and tried to upload it a million times - which turned into one of the frustrating Christmas moments, so I quit. Just know that it was amazing.

Another joyful moment was dancing with my mother and my niece Eve. Both of these amazing women are Christmas babies. My Mom was born on the 26th and Eve on the 29th. They embody a sweet, innocent, and joyful spirit. I danced with my mom a lot when I was Eve’s age - and it felt like going back in time - feeding off the kinetic energy of her almost 3 year old dance moves. Thank you God for this!

Snowy magic moment with my sister, Janalex. Jan and I can go from zero to sixty in negative .2 seconds. One minute we are in lovedelove with each other: Dancing, making snowmen, tickling, and just getting a kick out of the eachother. The next, our stubborn personalities are neck and neck and we are at eachother’s throats! It is a testament to love that we bounce back so quickly. This is our snowman, Bosworth. I love him. And I love her.

Sharing my gift on the holidays was another magical moment. My Dad preached on Christmas Eve about giving something to God for Christmas. It is a birthday party, after all. I’m really grateful that I got to give the gift of song last night at my Dad’s church. I sang a song called “Winter Snow” by Audrey Assad. I think it describes the spirit of God enriching the material world - comparing it to the peace and beauty and mystery of the winter snow. It’s a beautiful song. This clip is my little offering to God and the world on Christmas.

Hope you all enjoy it.

Have a wonderful day with your family and friends. Don’t skate away on an icey river. Stick with it. Wait for grace. It will pop up. Nothing is worth fighting about. These moments are precious and few. Each christmas is a blessing when spent with the ones we love. Sending you all so much love today and always!!!!