A Good Christmas

What constitutes a good Christmas? For some people it is lots of gifts. For others it is having a day off from work...and getting a bonus. For me it is being able to enjoy the day in my home with my kids.

They got less presents this year. We had decided that there was nothing 'big' or major they wanted or needed...and with the uncertainty of what is up ahead and the bad economic times...they just didn't need a lot. They are teenagers. They have 'things'...although Ms. Divine is fixated with labels. We buy her clothes and things that are just as good and work just as well if not better for less...they just don't have THE labels. I told her that she needs to learn the difference between what you want and what you need and how to compare and save.

I was just happy that we were all around the tree this morning and laughing and joking. Even Max was having a good time...he got pigs ears and a couple of toys. Pete the Hamster was grateful for his new nut log...that he bit apart and tried to store in his cheeks.

I baked way too many cookies but we have been giving them away. Not all of them but just enough to pare it down to only what we may eat in the next week.

We had lights on the house, a lighted and decorated tree, a ceramic lighted village, wreaths, greenery,the nativity scene, etc. Just enough to make it look like Christmas and enjoy it.

Our first Christmas in our new home...all of us together. After we opened our gifts, we all said a prayer together to thank God for His generosity...His blessings. You should never take any of it for granted because it could be so quickly taken from you.

On the news tonight was a story about a family with 5 kids...on their way home from spending the Christmas day at Grandma's house. There was a crash...their van was hit. They aren't sure if they all are going to make it and one of the little girls is going to lose a leg.

In the blink of an eye...your world can change. Just like that it can be taken from you.

My prayer for everyone this next year is this...that you do not take anything or anyone for granted; that you count your blessings and focus on the positive; that you are thankful everyday for what God has done for you (even if the only thing you can be thankful for, it seems, is that you are still breathing and get another chance to spend another day with loved ones or trying to rectify mistakes); and may you be able to blink without your world drastically changing when your eyelids open.