The Eve of Christmas

It's amazing how the details of days fly out of my head even when those days were not that many days ago! We were super amazed that Buck not only got three days off at Thanksgiving, but also three at Christmas! And even crazier, he has three in a row for New Year's, too. It's been a good thing to have that extended time together during this season. I'm thankful God put this set up on the scheduler's heart (whether the scheduler realized it or not :).

So I think, leading up to church on Christmas Eve, we . . . well, Buck took a couple kids to the store to get some last minute gifts, oh and some synthetic dye for a dress project Caelan is working on. I guess I worked on frantically reading the four thick books I intended to place in stockings later that night. Every year. Lol! I just love books, I can't help it :)

We attended church in the early afternoon at a new location that could hold more people. I'm always amazed that schools allow churches to meet in their spaces (for a rental fee of course). But think how prayer and all the things of God are regularly pushed out of school, but churches get to fill them back up with praise and thanksgiving and joy. I just wonder if that leaves the school dancing a little in its bricks and if the kids catch some of that hope when they get back to class? I don't know, fun to think about :)

It was a hard service for me though. I thought the music was great, the message was super great--full of really practical tidbits and thoughts on celebrating Jesus and His arrival on the planet. But the second round of carols knocked me over. We started singing about the angels rejoicing and heaven filled with wonder and praise and I just thought, "My dad is there, seeing that first hand. He knows what that sounds like. He's not here. He's there. That's happening, and he is part of it." I couldn't stop the tears. Usually, I can hold them back, but not at church. Of course, the first person to ask me if I was okay was our kindly, older youth pastor, the same one who comforted me during VBS when all the bad news was rolling in about dad's situation this summer. He just always happens to be there when I'm trying to keep it together. He's like a dad, and I'm emotionally helpless when he shows a little compassion. I'm sure God worked it out that way on purpose. Anyway, a hug from him really got the tears rolling, and then I just needed a good hour to cry and talk to God, and process the first Christmas where my dad is with Christ.

Food helps :) We planned a big Mexican food dinner for Christmas Eve, and the sounds and smells of that being prepared helped get me out of my funk. Buck even made green chili, yum! I forgot to put rice on my plate for the close up, but you can picture it there where the fork is resting.


After dinner, we watched a couple of Christmas movies . . . Klaus and Arthur Christmas. Then Buck and Caelan took a run at the sopapilla dough she'd made that morning, Buck's family recipe. Yummy! Even though we were all still so full from dinner :) 

We told the kids they needed to be in bed at 11, so the "elves" could get some work done. The complied, nicely! Buck and I wrapped last minute gifts, I wrote notes on the books I didn't get finished reading, we filled the stockings and carried up and arranged gifts around the tree from everyone who sent them, and the gifts from us. Then Buck (thank goodness!) remembered we were going to set out pastries to rise overnight. 

It took until 12:30 in the morning to get everything set! So much for just last minute details :) But the house was sparkling with Christmas excitement, and we'd made it through the tough stuff and could rest well. What time would we all wake up the next morning? My bets were on Buck at 5:30 a.m.--his usual Christmas enthusiasm starting a pot of coffee before the sunrise.