In our little family of four the Christmas celebration always takes place on Christmas Eve. As children, my brother and I impatiently waited until evening to open our long-awaited presents. Now that we are adults the wait is not quite as painstaking but instead is viewed as the way things should be done.
I stumbled through the door yesterday evening exhausted from a stressful day at work. Being a manager at a grocery store during the holidays requires loads of energy, patience, and good humor. I was feeling low on all three by the time I clocked out that evening. However, in my 30 minute drive home I turned on soothing Christmas music and tried my best to revive my Christmas spirit.
I arrived home to see the lights from our Christmas tree glowing through the window, beckoning me to come inside. My brother greeted me with a freshly baked cookie and the announcement that supper was almost ready. We sat down to consume our traditional Christmas meal of steak and homemade french fries. (A tradition started in the Robbins' family by my great-grandmother). After the delicious meal we moved into the living room to open presents.
Before we open presents my dad read us the Christmas story out of a children's book. Every year for as long as I can remember he has read to us this story to remind us of the true reason we celebrate Christmas. Afterward we sang a few Christmas carols in four-part harmony (after arguing about the correct key in which to begin singing :-) Following this we began opening gifts. It is our custom to open gifts one at a time. After someone opens his or her gift it is then their turn to pick a present for the next person. This procedure often lasts late into the evening and allows us to enjoy the pleasure of giving and watching each other delight in the gifts. The time was filled with much laughter and the taking of many pictures. Afterwards we finished the evening with a movie and ice cream.
I woke up this morning to a sadly green Christmas. A few snow flurries were blowing around in the air, but nothing stuck to the frozen ground. However, the green did not spoil the Christmas spirit. We started the morning lazily with coffee, cinnamon rolls, and the opening of stockings.
The rest of the day was spent enjoying time together as a family. We played some intense games of Scattegories, Clue, Masterpiece, and Sorry. Any games turn into a wild time in my highly competitive family! This was accompanied by more eating, laughter, and thankfulness that we could simply have a day to spend together without the pressures of work and the stress of day to day life.
Now that the day is nearly over we can look back with thankful hearts on the privilege we have of being with family and having a reason to celebrate.
"For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11
Thanks for posting this Heidi! It brought a smile to my face to read about your good day :-)
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