Mine began with me waking up at 10am hearing my mum talking to my brother about how she didn't know how she was going to get the house tidy enough to celebrate this year, then she went out and I realised the time and that for the first time ever she hadn't woken me up to ask if I wanted to go to church, which meant that (again for the first time ever) I didn't get to church on Christmas day.
I went downstairs and decided to start tidying the front room and to cut a long story short, when my mum got home we carried on tidying the living room, my brother done the kitchen and my sister the backroom. By 3pm the 3 rooms were tidy and we all felt we had earned our presents and so went into the undecorated living room (again this is the first year that not a single decoration had gone up) and gave out our gifts. We all had agreed that we would not go over the top this year (another first) however we all seemed to really like the small pile of gifts that we received. Mine included 2 DVDs, a mini helicopter, a small table hockey game, a calender thing and 3 yearly bible study things.
My mum then went into the kitchen to put the potatoes etc into the oven (turkey had already been cooked) and by 5pm(ish) dinner was ready and we all went into the dining room and ate our traditional massive Christmas dinner.
After eating 1 and a half roast dinners (we have a family tradition of eating the plateful we had then the "children" refill their plates and see who is last to give up - this year, again for the first time, I was first to quit) We watched Dr who (Kylie was sexy but should stick to singing) and TV etc and that was that.
I wont bored you with boxing day but to be honest it was probably identical without the presents, the tidying or Dr who - which i guess actually suggests it was a day with a huge roast dinner and lots of TV!
Looking back I realise that I probably enjoyed this Christmas more than most as, although we did have a few moments of the traditional arguments etc:-
- for the first time in a long time, me my mum, sister and brother worked together to achieve something - even if it was just a tidy house and felt like a family.
- Without the tree and tinsel up we didn't have the distractions around us.
- Because we all only spent a little we valued our gifts much more than we usually do, as well as the sentiments behind giving and receiving them.
- By not going to church I realised that I had missed it, whereas when I go I just ignore it.
Even the cleaning bit of the day has made me realise something, surely cleaning is central to the Christmas story. The birth of Jesus is an amazing story which was the beginning of the most amazing story in the world and to put it simply - the reason for it all is so that we clean up our lives and have God at the centre and everything else in the correct draws. So maybe cleaning the house is the perfect way of celebrating Christmas! (note to mum - if your reading this DO NOT remind me of this next Christmas as whilst its nice in theory I don't want to do it every year - note to other readers - IGNORE that note to my mum I'm going to make sure cleaning is central to Christmas in my future),
In truth maybe this Christmas I have a true message for you, which I feel I have been reminded of :-
- Give and receive presents, but value them so that you remember the thoughts behind them even when you cant remember what you gave or were given
- Remember the reason for the season - every day not just once a year!
- Use Christmas and the new year as a time to clean your soul and get your life with God sorted.
Finally, and most importantly - Whoever your family are, whether 1 2 or 3 parents etc, value them - they will mess up and they will hurt you but they will always be your family and they are a gift from God, even if it don't feel like it when they are with you!
Your my family - IL update you on my move etc when I get the chance.
Merry Christmas and Have a happy New Year
1 comment:
My Christmas was very eye opening as well. Sounds like we both had a lot to learn on it. I mentioned mine briefly on my myspace blog.
4.5 stars out of 5
:P LOL
We normally draw names for Christmas, so that we don't have to buy a bunch of gifts for every person. We draw one name and that is all we are expected to buy for, and even with that, we put a limit on it like $20 (which is close to 10pounds I believe). My parents never listen and so we normally get a few extra, but we don't get a ton of things and we are able to appreciate them so much more for the few items that we do get.
So I can totally relate to what you said.
-Vickie
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