I’m not a Scrooge. If you drive by my house you will see the
Christmas swag on my front door and planters filled with decorations. I love
sitting in a beautifully decorated restaurant and sharing stories and a meal
with friends. I gasp with delight at the festive city streets canopied with
twinkling lights and banners. Then at
dusk you will see my house blazing with outside Christmas lights.
What you won’t see is me walking through the mall laden with
bags and boxes. I haven’t bought
wrapping paper or bows for umpteen years because our family keeps re-using and
re-gifting. That is the part of
Christmas that hurts my heart and I’m trying not to dislike. The money and time
spent to buy the perfect present that says: “I love you.” Or the extravagant guilt gift that says:
“Sorry, I didn't take you to Mexico with me.”
I’ve been trying to simplify Christmas for years, and even
though it gets a little better each year, I still want to put a smile on
someone’s face on Christmas morning. But after spending two weeks in Romania my
heart has once again been wrecked, yearning for simplicity. The landscape and
poverty of Romania took me back to my growing up years in Prince George. Christmas was about going to church on
Christmas Eve and hoping for the brown paper that held the classic mandarin
orange, candy cane and the hard rock candies. Waiting for a pair of skates to show up under the Christmas tree was all I could think about for weeks.If Santa didn’t bring it I would never have
it. Those were the years where things we
needed came in a box with simple paper and a bow.
Having both my husbands die before Christmas also takes the
holly, jolly out of the season. It’s
hard to sing, “Rudolph the red nosed reindeer” when all I want to sing is
“Silent Night, all is calm all is bright.” I want to take time to reflect what
actually happened that “silent night” to bring forth a Christ child that would
change our lives and world forever. Have
we lost Him in our hurried distractions and endless lists to create the perfect
Christmas?
Yes, Christmas is the most magical time of the year. With
the softly falling snow, twinkling lights and candy cane lattes, expectations
are high for the perfect Christmas morning. But lets not get jaded when the
t-shirt is too small, the ear buds are not right, or the Star War figure is the
wrong one. After all Christmas is not
about the perfect gift or Bűche de Noël, it’s about the simplest and hardest
gift ever given…Love. How will you wrap
up love this Christmas?
I’m still trying to find my place in Christmas. After being in Romania and still grieving my
beloved Jack, I am so grateful for the love of my family. I’ll be sitting and sipping by the fire with
my children and grandchildren. Putting
together a 1000 piece puzzle and playing Apples to Apples is our family’s default
button. This year we will be in Montana
where the snow is magical and sledding is free. I hope in the midst of the
wonderful noise and clutter, I will be able to find all that is “calm and
bright” and receive the free gift and love of Christ. My heart is full of
wonderful expectation.
Heidi McLaughlin lives in the beautiful vineyards of the Okanagan
Valley in Kelowna, British Columbia. Heidi has been widowed twice. She is a mom
and step mom of a wonderful, eclectic blended family of 5 children and 12
grandchildren. When Heidi is not working, she loves to curl up with a great
book, or golf and laugh with her family and special friends.
Her latest book RESTLESS FOR MORE: Fulfillment in Unexpected Places
(Including a FREE downloadable Study Guide) is now available at Amazon.ca;
Amazon.com, Goodreads.com or her website: www.heartconnection.ca
