Christmas past…

Sometimes the children think I take too many pictures of them - they sigh and indulge me- knowing at this point it’s just easier - because we stand there longer trying to get everyone to go along with it than it takes to do it and “get it over with”.
When we think we will remember- though we don’t always see it how it really was. The pictures remind us of the details. They remind us of how simple things were when we were young. They remind us of how content we could be with only a few things. They remind us of a smile that we long to see again. They remind us how incredibly loved we were.

Early this morning I was awake and started going through pictures - and in searching found reassurance of why Christmas matters. It’s the going back to a place of simple complete contentment. Of knowing that dreams do come true. Of knowing for that moment everything is right in our world. Yesterday I shared with my students one of my favorite verses in the account of the birth of Jesus according to Luke. “And Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart”...chapter 2, verse 19. I have to wonder if she pondered the moment she lived in- and of those that slip away before we know it. This morning as I pondered I was acutely reminded of the complete love felt as a child- that all I really need is inside my heart. Not under a tree - but around it. The faces that forever fill my life. Those of yesterday and today- I ponder and smile. Savoring each with a grateful heart.. .