One Week

It really was the best Christmas ever. We had all the girls, sons-in-law, and grandson home plus our mothers and a sister. We had a great time cooking, baking, wrapping, playing games, doing extra laundry (I love doing laundry) and planning. Looking back on the week, was my focus on Christ? Yes and no.
Yes, I started out praying every morning and being with Christ a few minutes every morning as is my habit, but it was more challenging as the week wore on to keep that time since I was not the first person up in the mornings. Yes, we went to the Christmas Eve service and engaged in meaningful worship of our God and listened to an excellent teaching on Jesus, Christmas, and the troubling times in which we live. No, I didn't have a huge revelation during the Christmas Eve Service, but I did heard God's whisper when our pastor asked us to take a moment to listen to anything the Holy Spirit wanted to speak to us individually. (I will hold on to the words God impressed upon my heart for our daughters with all my strength.)
Many times I felt the grace of God on my family as we were just hanging out together. Many times one of our daughters would make a comment on how it was the best Christmas or how we gave each other thoughtful gifts that really fit the other person's taste. The loving times really outshone the tiny moments of conflict instead of the other way around. All I can say is-- thank You, God, for Your grace.
I was joking with my family at the beginning of the week and told them I wanted a sign in our kitchen that said that our family "put the fun in dysfunction." (We all know there is some amount of dysfunction in every family and we also know our family's dysfunction.) I guess the real truth is God pours His grace (the function) on imperfect, broken people (the "dys") and we reap the benefits (the fun). How great is that?
There were a few times I heard my girls refer to things we used to listen to or read or do that had a connection to Jesus. I think the Lord was showing me they will remember the good things of their growing up rather than the mistakes Tim and I have made as parents. Thank God. That is balm to this mother's heart. I loved watching how much my oldest daughter loves her grandmother. They are at once alike and dissimilar. And they really, really love each other. They talked and played games and talked and made things to eat together. Everybody should have a granddaughter or a grandmother like that. What a sweet relationship.
I enjoyed my mom being here. She is organized, discerning, practical, with a unique blend of bluntness and diploma

cy. She believes in decorum and dignity at all times. She loves her family. She loves her God. And she still has the softest skin of anybody over the age of one. In the words of my two oldest daughters' favorite movie, Muppet Treasure Island, "how does she do that?!"
Christmas is over and our oldest daughter and her husband are in the midst of a 24-hour drive back to Minnesota. Our second oldest is back in Vermont with her husband and son. And our daughters who still live at home are back to their usual activities. The dog is quiet. The cats have come out of hiding. The Christmas tree is still up. The last of the left-overs are on the counter ready to be either eaten or given the ol' heave ho, as my late step-dad used to say. It's quiet and the house is less cluttered and I have had a good, long nap. Did I remember Christ in the midst of Christmas? Yes and no. Did He remember me? Yes. And He kept reminding me of the good things I did as a parent. He reminded me of the greatest gift my mother gave to me-- a good and strong mothering instinct which, I fear, is growing weaker and weaker in our culture. And He kept reminding me of times we had as a family. And He kept pouring His grace on us. God is faithful. God is faithful. God is faithful.