The Scattering of Christmas

A Scattered Sort of Christmas

 

We see images on television of people coming down the stairs to open gifts on Christmas morning. Some people do that, yet in reality, many open gifts on Christmas Eve. 

 

And if you are part of my family, you open gifts whenever you can get people together.

 

Take this Christmas. Most of my family opened Christmas presents during our “ThanksChristmas” gathering in November. Most. 

 

My mother wasn’t feeling well so she was not part of the festivities. Instead, she sent her gifts for everyone to my house. 

 

It wasn’t a lot of heavy lifting. My mom gives everyone money for Christmas. It’s her version of “one size fits all” and takes joy in her claim “No one ever returns it.”

 

Yet because she wasn’t here, we had to make other arrangements for her to receive her gifts. 

 

My middle daughter, Danielle, and her family stopped by my mom’s house on their way back to Wisconsin to give her their presents after Thanksgiving. 

 

This past Saturday, my oldest daughter, Allison, and her family brought GG’s gifts and a breakfast casserole to my house for a Christmas brunch. Yes, many people know my mother as GG. It stands for Great Grandma, a title she’s held for over twenty years.

 

Allison and her crew took the money GG had given them and bought what they wanted. Instead of  merely telling her what they did with the money, they wrapped everything up and brought it all to my house so GG could see them open gifts from her. It was fun.

 

Soon to come: my youngest daughter, Kendall, and her family have a special treat in mind for GG. It’s a surprise. (It isn’t Christmas yet, anyway.)

 

It’s good we are flexible enough to celebrate a rather scattered Christmas. But isn’t that the way of the true gift God gave us? 

 

We talk about Christmas in terms of the birth of Jesus. We sing carols to celebrate the notion that God would come to earth as a baby, live a life as we do, and ultimately offer himself as a sacrifice on the cross to account for our evil doings. 

 

Our evil. Not His.

 

The true gift of Christmas is a daily celebration of God’s sacrificial love for us. And it is scattered throughout the year.

 

By the way, if you missed the post on ThanksChristmas, You can check it out HERE.