A Not So Perfect Christmas

Hello everyone! Hope that Christmas was great for you and your family, and that everyone got to celebrate Jesus's birthday in style. We had a whirlwind last few weeks, as I'm sure everyone did, with gifts to wrap, parties to go to, places to go, people to annoy - oh, wait. Forget that last part. We had a wonderful, relaxing Christmas, and spent the day at home opening (and playing with) presents. Juliana's one request was a Barbie cash register from Costco, with a real working microphone and pretend money and credit cards. She was so happy to see that cash register that it took her a half an hour to even notice she had other presents under the tree. She was very concerned that Santa didn't bring Landon or Mom and Dad as many presents as she had, but we assured her that next year maybe Landon would have a longer list. He was content to eat the wrapping paper and crawl all over Juliana's gifts, much to her annoyment. (Is that a word?)

I say "Not So Perfect Christmas" because I found myself getting so caught up in all the little things that just weren't quite right. The tree looked funny because we had to put all the ornaments on the top half (thanks, Landon). My Christmas cards got mailed out on the last possible day that the post office would take them and still tell me with some confidence they would get there before New Year's. Bo and I didn't really get each other anything because, let's face it, it's more fun to buy for the kids! And, I was bummed that I would spend another Christmas without my family in NC getting to see the look on the kids faces when they saw Santa or opened presents. Christmas Eve we went to service at church and the pastor's message opened my eyes to what I almost missed. He said that the first Christmas wasn't exactly post-card perfect, so why do we put such high expectations on our earthly attempts at celebration? He reminded me that Mary, bless her little pregnant heart, probably did not enjoy the trip to Bethlehem very much in her condition, and Joseph was probably heartbroken at the thought of his first born kid being brought into this world in a stinky barn. Perfect by our standards? No. God's perfect plan to remind us of His human-ness and holiness? Yes.

So the tree looked goofy, but it reminded me how blessed we are to have two perfect, hilarious kids to tear the house apart and put their own stamp on decorating. Did the cards get there in time? Maybe, but addressing the envelopes reminded me of so many special people and friendships in our lives to be thankful for. And Bo gives me a gift every day in the kind of father he is to our kids and the provider he is for our family. As for all of our family and friends in NC, we are looking at coming this summer in June for my sister's graduation, so we will hunt you down and hang out!!

So, overall, I'll take my not-so-perfect Christmas any day. Hope yours was not-so-perfect in a perfect kind of way, too.

Love!! -Brooke