One of the opportunities we each have at Christmas is the chance to create new memories. Whether we have wonderful memories from childhood, or whether the child within us still comes out to play, Christmastime can truly be a blessed time. I remember a precious story my dad told me about a Christmas tradition he enjoyed. When he was just a young boy, he remembers that his family would visit his grandparents. His grandfather would write a special poem to each child and then hang it on the Christmas tree. Dad said they would run to the tree with great excitement, looking for the poem with their name scrawled across the top. It was one of dad’s favorite memories, and maybe part of the reason that he wrote poems to us, his daughters, as we were growing up. It was a tradition he never forgot.
When we were very young, we lived on a dirt road that was often snow-covered and difficult to maneuver by the time Christmas came around. I remember my aunt and uncle, getting stuck at the bottom of the hill, but trudging their way through the snow to deliver gifts for little girls who were anxious that Santa would never make it to our house. We were thrilled to receive little purses and dolls with eyes that could open and close. It was a most wonderful thing. I also remember at that same old house, the year we received tall, plush, black cats, wearing pink necklaces. They had little bands on their toes so you could dance with them. It was big fun, especially when dad joined in and let us dance on top of his toes like we were one of the precious kittens.
I know that not everyone has enjoyed wonderful Christmas memories, and I pray for all of you who need to create new ones, that you will be blessed with special moments that delight your hearts this year. Some of us have simple stories as I do, topped off with trudging down the snowy road to go to church for the Christmas Eve festivities. It was fun to sing in the choir or act out the nativity story. Of course, there was always a coloring book or some special gift from the Sunday School.
We topped off our Christmas day with a big family dinner where all my aunts and uncles and grandparents joined together, each bringing their favorite dish to pass. Sometimes I look back at those days, and like my dad waiting to find his special poem on his grandpa’s Christmas tree, I reflect on the simple joys we shared. I’m not sure now with all the technology and ease of online shopping, if anyone takes the time to make simple gifts so filled with love. For those who think Christmas is too commercial, I would only suggest that yours doesn’t have to be. This could be the year you write a little Christmas memory and hang it on the tree for each of your grandchildren. Who knows, they may indeed find that a gift they will treasure long after the computer games have failed to operate.
Whatever you do this Christmas, create new memories, enjoy the love that surrounds you, and look up to your Father in heaven who delights in you today.