12 Things

Today I am doing my usual post-Christmas cleaning fest. The day after Christmas, I like to get every last wreath and ornament packed and put away neatly for next year. Taking down the decorations is what my mother calls “a drag” and I agree. Which is why I like to treat the 26th of December like a band-aid. Rip it off quick so you can start the New Year fresh.

Meanwhile, I thought I’d share 12 of our favorite Christmas moments with you. I did this last year and it was so much fun, I thought I’d do it again. Looking forward to seeing everyone’s pictures and posts this week!

Twelve Things at Christmas VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Merry Day After Christmas!

love, elizabeth

Sweetness and Peacefulness and Dreaming

My mom and I were talking about this on the phone yesterday. We both decided we like Christmas Eve better than Christmas Day. I don’t know why…but in my head, Jesus was born on Christmas Eve and then His parents got to sleep in on Christmas Day (#thelogicofchildhood). Growing up, Christmas Eve was rife with tradition. We would go to the candlelight service and sing my favorite Christmas carols like this one. We would drive home in the snowy cold (I feel like every Christmas in Colorado was a white Christmas). We’d unbundle ourselves from coats and scarves and boots. Dad would grab the snacks and the camera. Mom would heat up her cup of coffee and we’d head for the living room and the tree. Dad would read the Christmas story aloud and then we’d open presents in a circle, one at a time so that we could enjoy them with each other. My mother was the quiet conductor of all of this, sipping her coffee and nodding that it was someone else’s turn. Mom and Dad would open presents from each other last and have the annual Hunny Bunny argument (both would insist that the OTHER person was “Hunny Bunny #1” and so no packages were ever marked to “Hunny Bunny #2”).  I would sort and pile my gifts in a box and, when we had finished, I would take them to my room and set them where I could stare at them in the dark. They would stay in the box for days, maybe a week, shining up at me all new and special. I liked to horde them for a few days, to keep them new and bright and separate from my regular, everyday belongings. Christmas morning was the leisurely version of this and we’d take as long as possible to open our stockings, just to make them last to the very last toe of the very last stocking.

This Christmas Eve will be different than the ones I had as a little girl but that’s okay. It will be a day full of baking and singing and movie watching and snuggling and candle-lighting and praying and present-opening. It will mostly be just me and Kyle but I like that. Someday we’ll probably have babies and then the babies will grow up and be children and Christmases will be different. This year I am cherishing the peacefulness and sweetness and quietness. I have a growing feeling that this is a rare gift.

I hope whatever your celebration looks like, it’s wonderful and that it feeds your soul.

Merry Christmas Eve,
elizabeth

Twelve Things of Christmas

Christmas week was wonderful but I have so many pictures, I thought I’d share twelve as a representation of the whole.

1. Madigan loved Dad. She spent lots of the week in his lap…

2. Jeni’s, the best ice cream parlor in Columbus (maybe the best ice cream ever). My favorite holiday flavors? Smoked Tea & Plum Pudding and Cumin & Honey Butterscotch Cake. Yes, yes, and yes.

3. Fantasy of Lights at Alum Creek. Sooo pretty to drive through…

4. An afternoon at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. What could be better?

5. Starbucks with Mom, Dad, and Kyle. Another bonus of being married to a barista.

6. Starliner Diner for a traditional Cuban breakfast.

7. Rummikub after dinner. Mom killed us.

8. Vegetable Medley Soup. Absolutely delicious and so easy! Recipe to follow.

9. The Poinsettia Tree at the Franklin Park Conservatory on Christmas Eve.

10. Perfect fortune cookie for our Christmas Eve dinner at Hong Kong Buffet.

11. Candlelight service at church.

12. Dad read one of our favorite Christmas stories aloud, Papa Panov’s Special Christmas by Tolstoy.

What kinds of things did you do this Christmas?

love, elizabeth

God With Us

Every Christmas, I am struck by a passage in Matthew that quotes the prophet Isaiah.

'The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel'

--which means, 'God with us.'

God with us. With us in the muck, the mire, the darkness, the sadness, and the pain of life on earth. I think about Jesus, born into the darkest of circumstances. Into a poor family who seek shelter from the elements in a place where animals are kept. Into an occupied land. Into oppression and fear and sorrow. Into a world that did not recognize Him or look to protect Him.

And I think about our wish for peace at Christmas. But Jesus didn't just show up for the peaceful, easy moments, the beautiful, well-lit nativity with the gently smiling cow and the well-coifed Mary. He came for the worst and the hardest moments. And He is there in our hardest moments, as well.

This Christmas, Immanuel is my prayer. God, be with us. With my brother on a distant shore, in harm's way and homesick. With my husband in his troubled dreams. With my parents in their anxiety. With me in my trembling heart. Immanuel.

Hope your Christmas Eves are all peaceful and full of joy and love. But even if they're not, I hope you feel the presence of Immanuel, God with us, here at Christmas, wherever we are.

elizabeth