this morning, i got to work at 5am. my stuff is all packed and ready to go and at 1pm, it'll be off to sacramento to see my family. :)
i'm so unbelievably excited to see them. it's only been 6 or so weeks since we were last together, but that's been 6 weeks too long. i'm anxious to sit around the island in the kitchen and talk and laugh together. it's my most favorite thing.
besides that, i'm looking forward to everything Christmas.
Christmas at the woods/burrell household is always the biggest time of the year. our house is always decorated to the max, with all the cute little country-ish decorations we've picked out over the years at various craft fairs. we always have a huge, gorgeous, delicious-smelling pine tree in the living room and our adorable homemade stockings over the fireplace. my mom always makes these AMAZING cookie platters for family and friends.
this year, i've missed all of that so far!
i haven't felt much of Christmas here in orange county, actually. at least, not in the typical, commercial way i'm used to feeling it. my house isn't decorated and i haven't gone to look at Christmas lights. i haven't gone to any Christmas plays or wrapped any gifts.
the extent of my Christmas experience has all been at work. yesterday, the 5 ladies in my department threw a "holiday breakfast" for the rest of the people in the OC office. we brought all the trimmings to make breakfast sandwiches (english muffins, bacon, eggs, avocado, tomato, homemade salsa...mmm mmm mmmm) and fresh fruit and juice. we decorated the kitchen all festive and i put Charlie Brown Christmas on the stereo :) as simple as that sounds, it felt pretty magical to me!
i've also been keeping the josh groban, steven curtis chapman, and charlie brown christmas cd's on repeat at the stereo at my desk and i hum along to myself throughout the day.
the only other part of my Christmas experience so far this year was going gift shopping last night. i bought for 5 people in 4 hours! not bad, if you could see the traffic down here :) i actually almost got hit by people like 15 times, but God was watching out for me. plus, parking lots were crammed and full but He always managed to give a spot right up close and with little searching :) i was so thankful!
and that's it. simple. i thought i would be sad to miss out on so many of the Christmas traditions my family has leading up to december 25, but i actually think it's going to make it that much more special. and i will get to experience both the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day traditions, which is the most important part.
plus, this year will be even more amazing because our whole ENTIRE family will be together. all 4 of us woods kids, PLUS daniel and joe, my stepbrothers and their friend, john. it will be the first time all the woods/burrell kids will be alllll together, and i couldn't think of a better time for that than Christmas! in addition to that, all the aunts, uncles and cousins will be together. and kate always joins our evening celebration as well, so it will be a full house. 99% of the people i love the most, all crammed into one room, laughing and singing and celebrating being together. what's better than that?
it will also be important for all of us to be together because this may be my grandpa's last Christmas. for those of you who don't know, i had asked for prayer for him in a previous post. he was diagnosed with cancer and has 3 months to 2 years to live, depending on he how responds to treatment. :( it's weird to grasp the concept that a year from now, he may not be here. it's a little difficult to think about, but i figure there's no point in dwelling on the future until it gets here. it just makes every little moment all the more special.
so that's Christmas. i can't wait for all those little, special moments. it's weird how the older you get, the things that are important to you change so much.
i remember i used to watch the grinch and i never understood how all the Who's could still sing "dahoo-doray" when all their Christmas stuff got stolen!!! and now...yes, i think i would still be sad if we had no Christmas tree or stockings or Christmas music, but in the end, those are never the things you remember about Christmas. you remember moments. laughter. tears. laying on your death bed, will you remember how big your tree was and how great the food tasted? or will you remember those moments, sitting by the fire, laughing with the people you love? it's just funny that even a few years ago, i would've never seen things that way. moments are so precious.
the thing i love the most about Christmas though, is that every year i feel i grasp the concept in a deeper and different way.
the other day, i read this quote, and while i don't remember exactly what it said, the context was basically...that God's greatness is not because of how strong or powerful He is, but by how small He makes Himself to reach us.
it was extremely powerful. and i was listening to a couple Christmas songs that had different lyrics that kind of reflected that.
one of those songs is steven curtis chapman's "the night before Christmas" and the lyrics say:
"while the world fell asleep, unaware just how deep, was the darkness the night before Christmas."
the other song was "strange way to save the world." my brother, brett, sang it last year and it's a song from the perspective of joseph. one of the lines he says is,
"to think of how it could have been, if Jesus had come as He deserved."
we think about Jesus coming to save us, and while that's all really great, i think we often forget where He came from. i think we forget that Jesus deserved to come as a King, wrapped in glory and light. He deserved to come in all the splendor He is, with the world bowing at His feet. And instead, He limited Himself to our level. He allowed Himsef to be wrapped in human flesh, the flesh that we have all become so familiar with. flesh that is fragile and weak. flesh that feels pain and so easily falls victim to sin.
The God of the universe came in that flesh.
and instead of coming as a King, He was born in a dirty, smelly old stable while the world slept and no one even knew He had come.
to a point, my heart hurts when i think of that. How He loves us enough to become less than who He is. for us. and we just go on about our business. and we forget.
but then, i feel love. indescribable love. i think of all the other gods different religions serve ...their god did not come for them. but Jesus did. and He was hated for it. and He knew He would be. but He did it anyways.
oh, how He loves us.
so those are my Christmas thoughts this year.
each and every one of you may not experience Him the same way i have this year, but i hope you experience Him, nonetheless. :)
merry christmas<3
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