25 Christmas Memories

1. Helping my mom wrap our extended families' gifts. Our pool table became the wrapping station, and I remember tearing off tape strips and lining them along the edge. No more of that, thanks to this.



2. When I was about 4, I pulled our tree down on top of myself! I remember lying on the carpet, being speechless with the branches in my face. Then I remember screaming and Mom coming in to rescue me. :)



3. Going bargain shopping the day after Christmas with my mom, sister, and grandmother. Their goal was scooping up 50% Hallmark gift wrap and greeting cards for the following year.



4. Pulling up to our house and Dad having decorated the exterior with colorful lights, I yelled, "It's a miracle!" (I was four years old).



5. Visiting the Biltmore house at Christmastime and smelling their gingerbread mansion yards away down the hall.



6. The follow-up to #5, coming home after our trip to Biltmore and running upstairs to see our pet gerbils. Both looked strange. I called for my dad, and he quickly covered the cage and asked me to look away. Apparently, my sister's gerbil, Chestnut, had devoured mine, Charity. Chestnut was as big as a softball, and Charity's hide was the only thing remaining. This isn't a Christmas memory worthy of a Hallmark card, but a memory nonetheless.



7. Always being the first to wake up on Christmas morning, I'd run into the den to scope out the gifts. I'd then run upstairs, wake my sister and tell her everything she got. :-D What are little sisters for?



8. Singing one of the verses of "Morning Star" as a solo for the Christmas Eve lovefeast as a child.



9. While decorating the tree each year, remembering each ornament's story.



10. Crying my eyes out while watching "It's A Wonderful Life," and every sappy holiday commercial. This year's for me, is from Kay Jewelers about the baby's first Christmas. Sigh...




11. Watching and reciting "Christmas Vacation," "A Christmas Story," "Home Alone," and "A Christmas Carol."



12. The first weekend of December was when our church would decorate for Christmas. Back then, they used gorgeous real garlands, wreaths, and trees. While the adults worked, the kids would run and play around the church. We had a chicken stew for lunch afterwards.



13. Seeing the Festival of Lights and waiting for hours to do so. One year, we took our dog along for the ride and gave her a Greenie. Big mistake! We thought the stables were nearby due to the smell, but we finally figured out that it was simply Cubbie's horrible gas. Though they do freshen your pet's breath.



14. Making gingerbread houses with my mom and sister. One year, my childhood dog, Scruffy, pulled it off the dining room table and gobbled it up. Red icing in the white carpet was an added touch.



15. Eating lovefeast buns for breakfast on Christmas morning.



16. Going to my grandparents' home on Christmas Eve around 9:30 pm and not leaving until after midnight. All of the extended family piled into that small house, but it was bursting at the seams with love and laughter.



17. Buying Christmas gifts for my son!!! I didn't realize how much fun and tempting it would be to buy him everything!



18. My first married Christmas...waking up in our own home, with just us. :)



19. Surprising our families last year with news of our pregnancy.



20. Requiring and watching significant others do an embarrassing "present dance" in front of all our family. My sister's then fiance/now husband, misinterpreted it to mean "lap dance." :-D We all had a big laugh! :-D And an awkward one at that too...



21. Having been told where our honeymoon would be, I got so excited that I fell backwards into my future in-laws fireplace that was aflame! Thank God for firescreens...and it was St. Lucia.



22. Always choosing the tree. There are perks of being the baby of the family :)



23. Totally getting busted singing Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas" at the top of my lungs on video. Thanks Dad!



24. Last year, instead of gifts we gave a donation to Transform India Movement. Our donation helped build a well for people living in Bihar, India. Just a few weeks ago, we received a letter and lots of pictures of the well being dedicated to God who gives us living water through Christ. Humbling to say the least, to see children clapping and jumping at the sight of water coming from a pump. And here's a reality check: these people had never heard of the name "Jesus." The sweetest Name I know...



25. Raising our candles on the last verse of "Joy to the World" with the entire congregation and orchestra. I'm sure it's only a mere glimpse of how Heaven is.

My sister and I, Christmas 1983