Christmas Glow

Another little Christmas miracle; I am at the beach, my favorite place in the world, on this Christmas Day.  I aim for Christmas perfection every single year, but I don't get Christmas perfection every year. I am very much aware that "Christmas perfection" is a combination of heart warming circumstances and a state of mind, the state of mind being the most crucial element. Therefore, I am especially grateful for the Christmas perfection I felt this year.  We have an ENORMOUS set of extended family.  No way are we able to gather everyone together most holidays.  But a few showed up at our door last night and kicked off one of our best Christmas celebrations ever.  

One of my favorite realities about our family is the flexibility of our Christmas traditions.  We have many traditions we draw upon depending what seems practical for the current year. Each year there are themes similar to previous years and themes brand new.  

This is our first Christmas at the beach.  After gifts were given and opened with love and thoughtfulness, same as every year, many rushed to change out of pajamas into beach clothes to bike down to the water's edge and jump, splash, build and toss sand, while others burned energy on the beach basketball court.

I love the beach because it's the one place in the world where everyone understands how to live in the moment.  No one expects a sand castle to last more than a few minutes or a few hours at best. Yet we throw all of our passion and joy into this effort as though we are sculpting the next Michelangelo. We don't grasp, stress or cling to this fleeting moment, knowing full well a similar moment might come again, but never with the exact same feeling. We enjoy and release it without question.

Christmas Day, on the other hand, is a holiday scarred with expectations unmet for many people.  I have shed my share of tears on Christmas Day for one reason or another.  Some of us give up and grow callus, loosing our childlike wonder.  Some of us spin our wheels harder, trying to force it, only making it worse.  I chose to simply try again every year with varying levels of success and failure, attempting, every year, to accept what IS. Striving and releasing. Striving and releasing.

Will we all get it right one day?  Will there ever come a time when the afterglow of Christmas perfection lasts forever?  Is it even possible, in this broken world, to live, all year long, in the true Spirit of the biggest Christmas miracle which took place two thousand years ago?  

I don't know.  If it's possible, I haven't succeeded yet.  I haven't made it all year long constant in the Spirit.  But I won't stop trying.  All of the heartache is worth it for these moments and the Promise that one day God will wipe away every tear from my eyes.  Death, grief and pain will cease.  In the meantime, let's cherish these moments that Glow. 

2015 is nearly finished. I send love to you, from my home to yours, and Merry Christmas. To all a goodnight. Lets wake up, drink coffee, or your preferred start up drink, open your door, breathe fresh air, and carry this glow into December 26th.

Everyday Glory

My last post was about the importance of the present moment.  Today I want to talk about the sheer joy of having eyes to see something Holy and special in the plain and simple.  We are having one of those moments right now at our house.  Actually, a whole day filled with those moments.  I don't think I would have seen all of this today if I had not been staying present first.

After playing together for a while, we began to play separately.  My almost-3-year-old wandered off and returned to create the above scene.  It could be hard to see something special in the greater context of this general mess...  I could have focused on all the work she and I will have to do to straighten this later.  I could have let it make me feel tired and overwhelmed.

I also could have focused on the fact that she was playing with my electric candles from the bathroom.  I could have been bothered by her "messing" with my stuff.

Instead, it occurred to me that this moment was Holy.  As my worship music played in the background on my I-Phone, she was following my lead, in her own way, entering into the spirit of the moment.  I was offering my own gift of love to God, giving Him attention in the middle of my day and my own mess.  Music is my fastest doorway to seeing the Presence of God all around me.  She was entering the spirit of the moment in her own way, bringing gifts to present to me and her sister. 

I'm so glad I saw this moment and accepted it.  I took the candle-toy creation she offered.  We each held our own candle-toy creation up and offered it to the Lord.  Our typical morning worship through song became multi layered and even more beautiful with Samantha's added offering.  Annabelle, three months old, too small to hold anything, but there was a candle in front of her nonetheless.

Some people do Advent candles during the holidays.  Occasionally I've thought of participating.  I might not feel the need to do it this year.  My heart is full of these candles and this moment.  It may just carry me through the next two months without the time, energy and thought it takes to intentionally create traditions.  It's a good time for me to be unburdened by traditions.  A time when it's taking most of my energy to sustain the life of a three month old and attend the needs of an energetic little girl.

I wish each one of you had been here to experience this moment with us.  But we are here and you are there.  At your desk, at a stop light, on your couch, in a waiting room, you name it... wherever you are, I'm calling you, drawing you in through the Internet, to join me.  What moment are you experiencing right now?  If you are feeling uninspired and cynical, stop everything you are doing for 3 minutes.  No matter how important your current task is.  Especially if you current task is important!  Stop everything for 3 minutes and ask Him to open your eyes and your heart.