HaleyAs I think back to last Christmas, the first Christmas in our new home, I shudder just slightly at the month of sickness our family endured and remember how it all came to a head for me on Christmas Day, as I woke up to three sick boys in my house and accepted an abbreviated visit from my parents while my sister had to keep her newborn safely at bay.
And though this year is nothing compared to last, it was still different from how I imagined it. I imagined attending the Christmas Eve candlelight service at church with Scarlett cradled in my arms while singing old hymns. I imagined my family coming over Christmas Day and celebrating with a delicious dinner and possibly some Prosecco 🙂 I imagined James’ family coming over this weekend for a Hobson family feast.
But things don’t always work out the way I play them out in my head. Sometimes, real life gets in the way. Sometimes the Rowdy boys get sick. Sometimes the Rowdy boys get your extended family sick. And sometimes your family has car troubles as soon as they hit the road to come visit.
And just like last Christmas, this Christmas was humbling yet again for me. As much as I wanted to celebrate Christmas with my church family and extended family, this year we had a simple celebration with our new little family of five. It was nothing extravagant, and we thawed out a freezer meal for dinner, but we were able to spend the whole day together.
They boys opened their few gifts from Santa, and we spent part of the morning bundled up at a park so James Michael could practice riding his new bike. We had lunch together and the boys went down for naps while I savored some time with Scarlett. Then it was play time, dinner together and opening family gifts.
Besides the gift giving, it was a very ordinary day for us. And when I look back at my recap of last December, one of the things I learned was to love the ordinary days and not take them for granted. God sure does have a way of reminding me of lessons I thought I had already learned.
Despite the ordinariness of it all, when I asked James Michael that night why we celebrate Christmas, he replied very simply and assuredly, “Because it’s Jesus’ birthday.” And when it comes down to it, no matter if we celebrate with our little family of five or our much larger family, all that matters is that we celebrate Him and his extraordinariness.
