Has everyone recovered yet? Has anyone recovered yet? I'm still working on getting my legs back under me after the whirlwind that was the season - and my family.
I was a little nervous about this Christmas - it was the first one I was hosting for my family, the first one as an ordained minister. I was nervous that I wouldn't feel the joy and hope and excitement that I usually feel. I was nervous that Christmas would be lost in my long list of things to do.
This season came and went (well, for you sticklers out there, it's still here for a couple more days) and it was different. I was busier than I've ever been around the holiday, I didn't get to sleep in or wake up to look for my stocking (in my family we take the stockings down and 'Santa' fills it up and puts it somewhere around the room) as I was one of those who filled the stockings. And for the first time in I don't know how many years, I didn't eat the traditional Beef Wellington for Christmas dinner (though that's a lot more because of my newish veggie status than my new minister status).
Christmas was different, but it was also wonderful. I loved being among this church family, loved all the well wishes and celebrations shared, loved having my family mix with this family, loved my home being filled with LOUD laughter and so much silliness. I was honored to be able to lead worship on Christmas Eve and Day, blessed with the movement of the Spirit within me, with that warm joy and power it brings. And I was blessed with some familiarity amid all the changes - the candlelight, the boiled custard that always takes me 2 hours to make, the sounds of my sister and mother singing their own descant on Silent Night.
Hope all had a blessed holiday.
3 comments:
i haven't recovered yet...as you might be able to see from my blog, that's probably because i'm reliving it one day at a time! Plus the part where it's Christmas here again this weekend. Ah, the Orthodox...anyway, there's a whole 'nother Christmas Eve, another Christmas Dinner, etc etc etc! oy. Glad you survived, though. I'm sad to have missed your culinary adventures. Who was your sidecook?
My mom... actually, she was more of my backseat cook.
Have a wonderful second Christmas (hee, it's like second breakfast) and don't worry, you can catch my fab cooking skills as soon as you get home!
I experienced similar worries, but I realized how much I'm enjoying-- and needing-- the whole 12 days of Christmas. We still have our tree up, intentionally, to experience the whole length of the Christmas season. Now that I have the peace of mind to relax, I'm really enjoying some of the things I love, like staring at the lights and listening to Christmas music.
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