Our Twelve Days of Christmas

I don’t know why, but the end of the year always makes me feel reflective, especially when I have some time to stop and think, as I did on our flight home this past Monday. My thoughts led me to realize that what has kept us busy during this season really points to what and who is important to us.
So, as a blogger, I begin to think of how I can convey all that without crossing that invisible line of breaching someone’s privacy or letting the whole world know everything about me . . . and everyone else in my life. This is a hard thing to do, without sounding quite generic or surreal. I just had to begin writing, deleting, editing and all the fun stuff one does to come up with something that might actually interest someone or maybe just benefit me, and I narrowed it down to twelve things we did this Christmas season that culminate into who and what I’m thankful for at this time.

1. To begin our celebrations we got together as siblings for a dinner in the country home of my sister and brother in law. My sister-in-law had decorated early and they really have a way of serving and making you feel pampered while in their home.

2. I married into a large family, becoming an instant auntie to about 17 nieces and nephews at the time. Ten more, including our three kids, came along and most are married now. We decided to try something we have never done before. We invited just the nieces and nephews for dinner in the beginning of the month, and had so much fun doing it! A highlight for me was a “how well do you know your cousins” game that brought on a lot of laughter and shared memories.

3. My H and I have begun attending a new church and gotten involved in a type of Care Group that meets twice a month to share a dinner, a Bible Study or sharing time and prayer. This month we got together for appetizers, desserts and a white elephant gift game. As a group we put money together for well project in a developing country. I don’t know everyone very well yet and it takes some effort, but the rewards of allowing people into your life are beneficial in many ways.

4. We had my side of the family over for turkey dinner about the middle of the month … the day it snowed.

On my side too, nieces and nephews have all grown up, the youngest is in grade 12 now.

Such varying dynamics in four generations getting together, but a special time to connect and realize how important it is that we do so more often. We almost burned down the house, trying to make a fire in the fireplace, but it all ended well . . . after someone took on the task of running up the winding staircase holding a burning log over a plastic pail to throw it out into the snow . . . with me calling after him, “that is not a good idea!”

5. One night we met up with some business friends for a dinner in Vancouver. This is only the second time we’ve done something together with them outside of business and we do hope to become better friends with them.

6. We also really appreciated the fact that some co-workers and neighbors of ours accepted an invitation to attend a drama with us. The co-workers have been a part of my H’s life for many years and the neighbors have been living across the street from us for 23 years. It was great to actually do something together on separate occasions.

7. One night we had our annual staff dinner at a nice restaurant. I know that in general I don’t talk about work, staff, neighbors or friends . . . but these are all people in our life for whom we are thankful to have had the privilege of sharing not only this past year, but many years already.

8. On Christmas Eve I made a nice dinner for just the two of us. Although this is my absolute favorite night of the year and a night I’d love to share with our family, I can only say that God did fill our emptiness with a beautiful service, a special long distance call and just the knowledge that if we could, we would all be together!

We opened our gifts to each other and some special brown paper parcels with a ton of stamps on them.

9. On Christmas Day Ben and Kari came for a waffle breakfast and then we opened gifts with them. We watched a movie, enjoying appetizers in-between, and just relaxed on roomy couches.

10. On December 26th we crossed the border at 5:00 AM and caught an early flight out to deliver our gifts to the closest grandkids we have. I guess when some live half way around the world, a two and a half hour flight is nothing. So we will take that anytime we possibly can … even if just for two days. (The officer at the border asked how long we were staying and his next question was, “are you driving?” Was he thinking? Maybe he was at the end of his shift.) Needless to say, we had a wonderful time with Shaun and Kristal, who are living with his parents right now. Kristal had roast beef dinner cooking when we arrived. We played, opened gifts and ate. The best gifts were the smiling faces of recognition and excitement in Natalie and Landon.

11. On December 27th we all drove to Santa Barbara, a beautiful beachside city, where we did a bit of shopping, had lunch at California Pizza, walked along the pier and enjoyed a leisurely visit and coffee on a patio overlooking the beach.

12. As I write this I’m looking forward to an evening with a number of our long-time friends. Some of the couples we have known since before we had children, others joined along the way, but we all shared in the raising of our children, attending their weddings and most of us are now sharing in the excitement of being young grandparents. We will each bring something to share for dinner and just catch up on what is happening in our lives. These are couples who have stuck with us through bad and good, friends who laugh with us, pray for us and encourage us in so many ways. I wish everyone friends like these.

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