My Thoughts on: Christmas Enchantment

If you have young kids in the house, you are probably in a pretty warm and fuzzy place as I type this on Christmas afternoon.  Of course, some of you were woken up by your darlings at 5am after going to bed after midnight, so you're probably just pretty much in a fuzzy place.

I'm blessed in a lot of ways, one of them being that my kids are (and have always been) late sleepers.  I think the earliest they have both been up and ready to open presents is 7:45.  I am always up first, have at least two cups of coffee in me, the Christmas music on, the camera and camcorder on stand by and am waiting for them to wake up so the fun can start. 

Now before you go thinking unkind thoughts about me, it's Christmas, so just share in my blessing of having slumbering children past 7am.  If you can't, go take a nap.  Your kids are probably in a toy/electronics gift coma anyway, so this is the one time of year you can slip off unnoticed for a midday snooze.

I think we can all come together on the notion that it is beyond wondrous and exciting to see Christmas through your child's eyes.  Christmas started with a miracle, and all of its enchantment ever since is most fervently felt by children and by those of us who get to see its magical effect on them.

The Christmases of our childhoods have left us, and many of the people, warmth and traditions from those days are long gone as well.  I think of my own girlhood Christmas Eves, Christmas days and  Holiday travel to see family, and besides the memories being full of love and laughter, they are marked by many faces who are no longer celebrating with us at Christmas but who are in eternal celebration with the King.

So we create traditions for our kids from our memories and put our own hand print on them, hoping they will also leave a hand print on our children's hearts as well.  As parents, we need to stop for a few moments each Christmas and let them leave one on ours too.  Of the days when our kids are small, and they believe in all of the magic of the Season.  And while they're young, we need to teach them that its magic started with the birth of a baby who brought the promise of unending love, eternal peace and infinite joy into the world.

The world Jesus was born into was uncertain and full of darkness.  It is even more so today.  We need to hold tight to our kids and seek out for them spaces of warmth, hope and light.  And then while trying to teach our kids to live in them, on days like Christmas, we really need to stand still in those spaces and take in every bit of the spirit of them.  Because long before we are ready for it, the day will come when the children are grown and gone and are making traditions of their own with their families.

So please, take a moment in the chaos that may be swirling around you today, and stop.  Breathe it all in, taste it, feel it, see it, and imprint it on your heart and in your memory.  And today and every day, be grateful and be blessed for the many intangible gifts of the life surrounding you and for the greatest gift of the Saviour, whose birth and promise is the truest form of Christmas enchantment you can ever know.

Sparkly Kisses from Under the Mistletoe,

D