I was wide awake this morning at 5:45AM. I could have slept as late as I wanted too as I don't have anywhere to be until 1PM. When I awoke, I realized what today is and what tomorrow brings! Even though the past few weeks have been so very hard to deal with, Santa is still coming!!! I have a different perspective on this celebration as I enjoy Christmas more than any other time of the year. Without Christmas...there would be no hope! Jesus came into this world that I might have hope, that I might have life, that I might have eternity. Today more than ever....I have that peace that surpasses all human understanding. While it is hard to understand all that my sisters and I have experienced over the past few weeks with my dad, God understands not only where we are....but what my dad is going through. I pray for them and I pray for him.
As I lay in bed this morning, my mind raced back to Christmas past, especially those I remember as a child. I remember the BB gun when I was only 6 years old. Daddy set up a cardboard box in the basement and I would shoot and shoot. When the gun was empty, I would retrieve all the BB's from the box and start all over again. When I was about 10, spyder bikes were the rage and I got a new one for Christmas. It was special! 3 speeds, silver with a white seat that had flames on it. At 11, I got my first real gun...a single shot 410 shotgun. Daddy and I went squirrel hunting that afternoon. We didn't shoot any squirrels, but I felt like a real man walking in the woods with my dad that day. I still have that shotgun and think about that day every time I see it.
As I have grown older, Christmas has grown more and more special, but for a different reason. Now I am way more excited about giving than I am receiving. My most special gift is to just be with my family and watch the excitement they experience. Tripp & Makinley really put everything into perspective for me and when I look at them, I am reminded of how Scripture teaches us the special feelings Jesus had for the little children.
I am sitting here at the moment remembering my momma and the little things. That is what Christmas is all about.
