"Looking through my bedroom window, out into the moonlight and the unending smoke-colored snow, I could see the lights in the windows of all the other houses on our hill and hear the music rising from them up the long, steadily falling night. I turned the gas down, I got into bed. I said some words to the close and holy darkness and then I slept."
~ Dylan Thomas~
It's hard to believe Christmas has come and gone already. There was no snow to wake to this year but it was a lovely day none the less. It was busier than I would have liked it to be. But that's okay, I am still learning to quiet some things, and embrace some others. I'm not so concerned about a picture-perfect holiday as I am about what is happening in our hearts. Are we learning to love deeper? Are we looking to the needs of others? We are learning, becoming, hopefully changing, always. Here are a few of the precious things I'd like to remember from this year:
*Creating some of the magic I remember for my children.
*Watching Harper discover lights and rejoicing in his life added to our family this year.
* Family movie nights by the fire.
*Christmas morning breakfast feasts.
* Watching our children act out the story of Jesus being born while a blanket-headed Ella tried to wrestle Harper into laying in her arms and saying, "You have to be still, you are the Son of God."
* Having a house filled with music and fresh green everywhere.
* Candle light reading and worship each night, drawing our thoughts always back to He who is coming again.
* Watching Juden marching through the trees in front of a line of siblings and cousins quoting A Child's Christmas in Wales.
* Hand made cards from my loves.
* Watching my brother snuggled with our children reading a poem my dad read to us.
Wherever you were this Christmas I hope it was filled with peace and light.