Is your home all decorated for Christmas yet?
Mine is.
All the nooks and crannies are full of little treasures only brought out at this, the most wonderful time of the year!
I love every bit of it. It warms me to my toes. From the stockings, handmade by my mother, hung on the wall above a TV playing an image of a crackling fireplace in lieu of an actual one; to the lights shimmering in the tree, and the Advent candles on the table.
All over you’ll find little Christmas mice and soft doll angels, all made by my Grandmother at her sewing machine. The same machine that made my wedding dress.
And as I look ’round me at so many things, I find I don’t see things at all: I see memories.
Beaded snowflakes, a wedding gift from a family friend.
Shimmering glass egg ornaments, a gift from an Aunt.
A pinecone set in the corner of a bookshelf with little ribbon bows glued to the side, a craft I made as a tiny child in Sunday school.
Each ornament and bauble holds a memory, collected one by one over the years of a lifetime. They are just things, but made precious by the time and the people they represent.
It’s just the way I am, entirely sentimental. I’m not much for things for their own sake, but attach it to a memory or a person and the simplest little trinket becomes a treasure.
And as I look around me in this moment I find so many riches, so many blessings, not in things, but in a life made full of love.
My heart is full tonight, remembering my blessings, counting the gifts of loving hands God has bestowed upon me.
And as I turn to a simple little display of candles on my table my heart grows fuller still, as I remember the GIFT at the center of this season. The love Gift that was, and is, Christ Himself.
I pray again to keep this fullness of a heart all the way through the year, long after the memories held in baubles and trinkets are packed away. That I remember every day to look and to count gifts and blessings, to be humbled in gratitude and in love.
Christmas, with all its trappings of things. It’s never been about things.
Christmas has always been about love.
And so I trim my home in love.
And so I trim my heart.
The wonderful thing about Christmas is that it calls us to stop and enjoy our time with loved ones. I refuse to focus on getting things done this year, because my daughter is at the age where everything is magical. She loves the little things, and is teaching me to love them too.
Thanks for this post! I love being reminded to keep this attitude of gratitude going all year round 🙂
People is what Christmas is about! I know what you mean about your daughter, my daughter is 2, almost 3, and it is such a joy to see the season through her eyes! 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
Beautiful. Growing up each ornament meant something too. Our young family only has a handful {and most we cannot put up with the fear that my baby girl could knock down the tree and break them}. But the memories will always be there.
We always picked out a new one every year for each person. So by the time I got married I already had quite the collection. Each year I can trace my life while decorating our tree. Of course some have broken over the years, but you’re right, the memories remain.