IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE
I would hope everyone is done with their holiday shopping. It's so crazy out there on the roads during the holidays. As for us, we are done with all of it. No more. We didn't overspend, and have a healthy bank balance for this month. Of course, not all the bills are paid, but they will be in a few days.
It's Christmas eve.. Oh.. the best night of the year... maybe. I think all the anticipation of what is in the packages for everyone is such a delight. I love stretching out Christmas.. a few gifts given here and there.. before the actual day.. and then opening gifts on the day... fun time!
I was thinking this morning about my favorite Christmas as a child. I remember hanging my sock (the biggest one I could find) on the front door at the little house on 7th Street Road. Then waking up the next day to find Tiny Tears, a doll I'd longed for -for months! Tiny Tears cried real tears.. well, water, but who cared? They LOOKED like real tears. Sometimes I wonder what ever happened to her? I know many many years later she was used in a Christmas pagent as the baby Jesus. After that, she was lost.. I guess having my own real babies over those years kind of took my attention away from her.
I can remember stockings filled with a huge orange, apple or both.. nuts you had to crack and open and a few little pieces of candy. Maybe a small token / gift too. No matter, the stocking was always full the next day.
Wonderful warm memories.. packages wrapped in white tissue paper.. that was Mom's specialty. Tied up with a festive thin ribbon.. ah... good memories..
Traditionally, Dad never got the tree until Christmas eve.. and it was set up without my help. Wise choice I'd think. And the tree was always taken down on NY day. Another wise choice as they were always live trees and could have been a real fire hazard.
There were 4 of us children.. Bill, Jane, Charlie and me.. each of us got at least one thing that we desired as long as it was affordable, and then the usual underwear, sox and stuff like that.
Not a lot by today's standards, but enough and plenty for us.
I also remember going to the UP church Christmas party and Santa giving us a small box of chocolates.. wow.. neat! As a child this reinforced the belief in Santa and that he was somehow connected to the church. I suppose that's where I got the idea that we would not do that to our children. You can't teach false doctrine to children and then tell them Jesus died for them and have them believe it. The miracles Jesus performed in scripture become "magic" rather than real life and true. It is the same with Easter and the bunny. As a child, I was sure there was a connection in my Bible.. just couldn't find it. I suppose I was the only child reading scripture looking for proof of Santa being in there.. and the bunny too. Couldn't find it, but I knew it was there.. the church supported it, so it had to be. I was fooled, but my children would not be.
They would know the truth from the beginning.. and the focus would NOT be on Santa or bunnies or whatever horrors others teach their children that they think is scriptural.
Alas, schools teach about Santa and bunnies.. good point for home schooling.
Oh.. I'd better get off my soapbox.. I'm needing more coffee and then I'm going back to my warm cozy bed for a few more hours of sleep before I have to go to work today.
And...uh... don't forget to hang up your stocking?
It's Christmas eve.. Oh.. the best night of the year... maybe. I think all the anticipation of what is in the packages for everyone is such a delight. I love stretching out Christmas.. a few gifts given here and there.. before the actual day.. and then opening gifts on the day... fun time!
I was thinking this morning about my favorite Christmas as a child. I remember hanging my sock (the biggest one I could find) on the front door at the little house on 7th Street Road. Then waking up the next day to find Tiny Tears, a doll I'd longed for -for months! Tiny Tears cried real tears.. well, water, but who cared? They LOOKED like real tears. Sometimes I wonder what ever happened to her? I know many many years later she was used in a Christmas pagent as the baby Jesus. After that, she was lost.. I guess having my own real babies over those years kind of took my attention away from her.
I can remember stockings filled with a huge orange, apple or both.. nuts you had to crack and open and a few little pieces of candy. Maybe a small token / gift too. No matter, the stocking was always full the next day.
Wonderful warm memories.. packages wrapped in white tissue paper.. that was Mom's specialty. Tied up with a festive thin ribbon.. ah... good memories..
Traditionally, Dad never got the tree until Christmas eve.. and it was set up without my help. Wise choice I'd think. And the tree was always taken down on NY day. Another wise choice as they were always live trees and could have been a real fire hazard.
There were 4 of us children.. Bill, Jane, Charlie and me.. each of us got at least one thing that we desired as long as it was affordable, and then the usual underwear, sox and stuff like that.
Not a lot by today's standards, but enough and plenty for us.
I also remember going to the UP church Christmas party and Santa giving us a small box of chocolates.. wow.. neat! As a child this reinforced the belief in Santa and that he was somehow connected to the church. I suppose that's where I got the idea that we would not do that to our children. You can't teach false doctrine to children and then tell them Jesus died for them and have them believe it. The miracles Jesus performed in scripture become "magic" rather than real life and true. It is the same with Easter and the bunny. As a child, I was sure there was a connection in my Bible.. just couldn't find it. I suppose I was the only child reading scripture looking for proof of Santa being in there.. and the bunny too. Couldn't find it, but I knew it was there.. the church supported it, so it had to be. I was fooled, but my children would not be.
They would know the truth from the beginning.. and the focus would NOT be on Santa or bunnies or whatever horrors others teach their children that they think is scriptural.
Alas, schools teach about Santa and bunnies.. good point for home schooling.
Oh.. I'd better get off my soapbox.. I'm needing more coffee and then I'm going back to my warm cozy bed for a few more hours of sleep before I have to go to work today.
And...uh... don't forget to hang up your stocking?
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