Christmas for our Family

It was a joy this year to be a family of 7 and celebrate Christmas together.  I thought often of my own, naked, unfurled, warm bald headed little guy held snugly to my chest or laying sleeping in my arms as I reflected upon Christs birth as a tiny, bare, perfect babe.  A warmth comes from babies as you hold them close.  They emit a radiance of heat, drawing your own body to breathe slower and warm over like drinking a hot cup of cocoa.  Warming from the inside out as you draw them close to you.  I consider that night, as Mary birthed her child, just as I did only days ago.  Writhing with the pain of child labor as given by God all those years ago upon the fall of man, the biting of the fruit by Eve then passing on to Adam to seal mans fate and need for Christ.  Mary experiencing the very consequence of sin while she brought the answer for that sin into the world.  And the LOVE...oh the love you instantly feel for someone moments ago inside your womb.  You can't ignore it the Love washes over in the nanoseconds between the baby being birthed and placed upon your belly.  They are a part of you.

He would be the reconciliation, the healer, the atonement, the substitute for man's disobedience in the garden.  But he entered the world as every babe does.  Taking his first breath, crying in the night air, nursing, sleeping, crying. Mary to hold him, knowing He is the salvation of man, drawing in every tiny finger and toe, warming his body against her own, fulfilling prophecies and taking the throne.  It is amazing.

I find it hard to translate the beauty and the complexity of it all into words and then to try and teach my children.  So while they are young, we attempt to make Christmas about Jesus so that one day they might know deeper the true miracle His birth was that night in the stable, in the manger of hay.  

We talked of Jesus, lit candles at the table, read story books of the miracle, prayed prayers of repentance and request to Jesus, and embarked on a small, quick Advent Journey to lead them, ultimately to the cross.  

In the moments between all of that we celebrated the holiday, the boys buying presents for one another, friends and family.  Placing gifts under the tree as we remember the gifts Jesus was given nearly two years after his birth by the wise men.  Doing crafts to learn about the star and the wreath and their Christmas meaning as symbols related to Jesus.  The Christmas Tree that would one day become his place of death, the wooden cross for his once again naked body to lie upon.  How perfect is the plan and will of God...

It stirs awe.

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas morning, quiet with just the grandparents and each other.  Opening presents and trying out toys.  Tireless daddys and pappas putting together toys, a labor of love.  Sipping hot tea and making pancakes with daddy the kids were joyful.  It was only one day before that mommy was sick with fever and chills and days before that Daddy lay still with the same.  On this day, Trace was slowing down, watery in the eyes, as his fever began to climb.  But he pressed on through the day soaking in the fun.  

Our children are beyond blessed and treasures abound in their life.  Appreciation is a growing art and we try to tuck it into their hearts as we can that they would never take it for granted.  Another Christmas has come and gone and for that I am sad.  But, the beauty of taking it all in and sharing it with them trumps the grief and fills my heart with joy!