Yeah, we cheated and had our Christmas early because Brian has to work on Christmas day. Bummer. Oh well, he's home today and that's better than nuttin'. Speaking of nuttin', my kids had absolutely no idea that they were getting any presents this year. Things are tight for us lately and they knew it. They still had at least one thing they really wanted this year and I kept those things in my mind secretly. The whole month of December they knew that they probably weren't going to get any presents on Christmas and they had such good attitudes about it. The only one determined to figure out how to get the present he wanted for Christmas was Jacob. He stood by the road with a jingle bell in hand, fake reindeer antlers on his head and a container held out to the road over our fence. He sang jingle bells to whatever cars went by, hoping for a little something to jingle in his pocket. Another bright idea of his was to go out and collect lizards and frogs and sell them. I burst his bubble by telling him that those animals were probably hibernating for the Winter. And then to top it all off, he made one more thing to sell. Plant seeders. Don't know exactly what they do, because plants have already grown from their own seeds. :) Too cute. And the thing that melted my heart the most this Christmas was when Ian brought over his money jar and offered it to Brian and I to help pay the bills. "Really, Mom, take it. I don't mind." Well, sniff, sniff.
Anyway, I did end up getting them all that one thing they really wanted and another secondary gift. Brian took them out last night for three hours so I could wrap all the presents without them knowing a thing about it. They came home, went to bed and we put the presents under the tree.
On Christmas Eve morning Lauren was the first one out of bed. She sat on the couch and just stared at the gifts. "Mom, where did they come from? Did the delivery man bring them?" Jacob got out of bed and sat next to me on the couch to have some morning snuggles with Mom. He didn't see our tree directly in front of him and the presents under it. He got up to walk to the kitchen and then it dawned on him: THERE WERE PRESENTS UNDER THE TREE! His mouth dropped. All the kids were so happy to see the unexpected gifts.
The morning was crazy with all the kids wanting us to put their toy together or get it out of the box(with a jack hammer, saw, etc., you know the drill). Then they were all fighting over who was going to play with what and how and with whom. That's where this cozy, little Christmas story comes to an end. I wasn't too happy after putting this Rose Petal Cottage House nightmare together. We must have taken the thing apart three times to get it to work. Yeah, I read the directions. I checked 'em twice. I was cooked, fried and baked after this morning. I was getting stressed out. Why? Because my focus was on the wrong thing. I had an expectation about how this morning was going to go and my expectations were dashed. Kids were crying, the toys weren't working and the house became a wreck in the process. In my heart I had nothing but a complaining spirit, to my shame. My kids wanted me and my time. They didn't care if everything was perfect and neither did God. I lost my focus on what mattered today.
Later in the afternoon, I saw an old peice of wood backing that used to hold a puzzle in it. Now all the peices were gone and just that peice of wood was left, an old Christmas toy forgotten by the son it was bought for a few years ago. God spoke to me when I saw that peice of wood and He said, "That's what these toys will be in a few years, forgotten, but their memory of what kind of mother you were will always be with them." Those words hit hard because they were so true. I had lost my temper and snapped at my kids today. I was irritable and complaining. I confessed my sin and the Lord forgave me. We began to have a better day and I only hoped that I could make up for how I had treated my kids and the example I had set out for them.
And what about all of you? What kind of Christmas will you have? Just keep in mind what really matters in this life. Love those around you and be thankful for the time you have with them. The memories you make will last and those presents you get(or didn't get) will be forgotten. Christmas Blessings to all of you!
