Weighed down with Christmas expectations

I’m back in the saddle again (or should I say back on my sleigh?), recovering from the flu/cold bug that forced me to rest.  And I’m still on my determined quest to make this Christmas simple.

Where did we get this insane idea that our Christmas celebration has to be perfect?  Perfectly decorated. Perfectly gifted.  Perfectly baked and cooked.  Perfectly wrapped.  Perfectly full of overabundance. 

We load ourselves down with expectations for holiday perfection until we are fretful and frazzled, weary and worn, and exhausted instead of exhilarated.  We spend too much time and effort on the unrealistic expectations when we should focus on the expected One.

We wait, usually impatiently and irritated, in long lines at the checkout stand.  In long lines at the post office.  In long lines at the gift wrapping counter of our favorite department store.  In lanes of traffic jammed with cars heading to the nearest shopping mall.

And yet, we don’t take time to wait for the anticipated One.  The One we light the Advent candles for.  The One who is the reason for the season.  The One whose name the holiday bears.

We search for just the perfect Christmas card, write the perfect Christmas letter to enclose within, all in the name of sending good cheer to our friends, families, and neighbors.  But reality is that we’re anything but cheerful.  Anything but merry.  Anything but sincerely sending warm wishes to anyone.

Our mode of operation is to overload on the material things of this world which will not fill the empty holes in our hearts.  Will not bring us happiness.  Will not spread good will.  Will not envelope our hearts with love.

Only one thing can do that – completely fill our hearts and souls with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and goodness.  All those things we gush about at Christmas time yet don’t put into practice.  We can utter the words, we can have good intentions, we can attempt to craft the perfect Christmas but until we make Christmas simple, we will fall short every time.

And the simplicity of Christmas is this:  “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” ~ Isaiah 9:6

So when the frenzy of the season wears us down, when Christmas weighs on us like a chore not a celebration,  when we focus on the things of this world and their glitter and glitz,  we’ve forgotten that One truly perfect expectation.  That’s when I need to set my mind on the Expected One.  That’s my wish for a simple Christmas.  Simply full of Jesus.  

 ©2013 mamasemptynest.wordpress.com

 

I’m dreaming of an old fashioned Christmas

With my new doll – Christmas 1957

Maybe it’s just my middle age.  Maybe it’s the empty nest thing.  Or maybe it’s just that I have more time on my hands to spend reflecting on the past.  Whatever it is, I find myself singing the words to an old Frank Sinatra Christmas song.

“Give me an old fashioned Christmas, an old fashioned Christmas,

 Family faces, wide open spaces, covered with snow.”

This Christmas here at Mama’s Empty Nest there will be family faces.  And wide open spaces at our country home for certain.  Right now those spaces are covered with snow and hopefully we won’t just be dreaming of a white Christmas.

In my heart,  I’m longing for an old fashioned Christmas – one with less hurry and scurry.  One with deeper meaning.  One with a simpler celebration.  And I’m determined to accomplish it.  Oh, my Christmas to-do list bounces around my brain but I’m simplifying it.  I’m not scouring Pinterest for decorating ideas or cookie recipes or fancy Christmas dinner menus.

I’m sticking to the basics but even abbreviating those.  Christmas cards are signed, sealed, and delivered but this year I opted for fewer cards and a shorter Christmas note.  Decorating our home is completed but not all of the décor, just some favorites, made it out of the storage boxes.  The oven will fire up for some cookie baking but not the usual marathon, just two or three kinds instead of a huge assortment.  Simple meal preparation will follow suit.

Downsizing for a simple Christmas almost doesn’t make sense though.  This year is different than Christmases past when I squeezed in all of the preparations and scarcely had enough time to do it all.  I have more free time on my hands than usual and you would think that would entice me to really do Christmas up big.  Fancy.  Over the top.  One to remember.

But then I recall Christmas as a child.   Do I remember anything fancy?    Do exquisitely wrapped packages with expensive gifts inside come to my mind?  Fine cuisine?  A beautiful and elaborately decorated home?  Do I recollect an over the top celebration?

What I remember from childhood Christmases are simple aspects.  My father would usually bring the Christmas tree home with him one day after work.  Sometimes that wouldn’t be until shortly before Christmas and one year I remember actually decorating the tree on Christmas Eve.

After my older sisters married, they spent Christmas Eve with their in-law families so that meant my parents and I usually attended candle-light service at church to welcome the Christ child.  Before the service, my father would drive us around our area to see neighbors’ homes Christmas light displays and we would ooh and aah over those that glowed the brightest.

No fireplace existed at my childhood home, but I still hung up my stocking over the knob of the front door.  I would be so excited for Christmas morning that I could barely sleep.  When Christmas Day arrived, my stocking bulged full of goodies although not with toys, gadgets, and gizmos.  Dumping it out, I would discover a huge juicy orange, a shiny red apple, mixed nuts in their shells, candy canes, and other Christmas candy.  And I would be delighted with the yummy treats even though they were practically the same every year.  Nestled beneath the Christmas tree, I’d find one or two specially requested simple toys – a doll, a game, or one exciting year, a beautiful blue bicycle –  just for me. 

That afternoon brought our entire family gathered together and crowded into the living room around a simple Scotch pine real tree covered in old-fashioned strings of lights with colored bulbs, metallic icicles, and the same ornaments year after year.  It wasn’t a fancy themed tree; instead a hodge-podge collection adorned that prickly-needled fir which filled the air with the pungent scent of pine.

We exchanged gifts – real honest to goodness gifts that were purchased with thoughtfulness and consideration instead of gift cards or envelopes of money.  And we laughed, and we exclaimed over our wonderful presents, and we thanked one another with smiles and hearty hugs.

My mother prepared a simple but abundant and appetizing meal displayed on the dining room table – no fancy recipes, no exquisite table centerpieces/decorations to make it look like a photo spread from a magazine.  And we bowed our heads thanking God for the most precious gift of all – His Son Jesus Christ – and for our provision of food and family.

After dinner, one of us occupied the bench at our upright piano to plunk out Christmas carols while the rest of us sang the well-known tunes over and over again.  We’d eat dessert and commence a few rousing rounds of cards or games or sometimes just putting a new jigsaw puzzle together.

A simple Christmas.  Not photo worthy because of the food, the glitz, the gifts, or the amount of money spent.   A Christmas worth remembering because of love, gratitude, and joy felt and appreciated when a family assembles to celebrate.

That’s my idea of an old-fashioned Christmas and that’s what I’m hoping for this Christmas.

“When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things – not the great occasions – give off the greatest glow of happiness.”  ~ Bob Hope

©2013 mamasemptynest.wordpress.com