It's Christmas!!

It's a Sunday morning.

The rain is pattering outside. That nice gentle pattering where you could just lay in bed and listen to it all morning. Which is what I was doing until a certain sweet little voice said, "Bob?" and stumbled into our room and climbed into bed. (Right now, I'm Bob the Tomato and she's Larry the Cucumber.) Wrapped in her "Leaves" , the blanket she cannot sleep without, she cuddled with me in bed. My brief alone time was interrrupted but I didn't mind one bit.

It's my Christmas break and I got to sleep past 7, so it's all good.

It's been a busy week, no make that month. Actually, make that a year. We are in a brief lull right now. Andy is in orientation at the Sheriff's department. He often comes home early and has random days off. It's really nice. He's home every night. Field Training starts in a week and we don't know what his schedule will be. For now, though, he's home a lot and not driving around in a car with a gun. For now.

I swore this Christmas I wouldn't be crazy busy. I promised myself I would stop and reflect. Watch Christmas movies and drink hot cocoa; stare at my tree and contemplate. Make Christmas crafts. (I have no idea what craft that would be; but it seems like a Christmasy thing to do.)

But the reality was graduation, super fast trip to DL, school, grades, graduation party, Christmas program, birthday party, Christmas shopping, class Christmas party, report cards, Christmas cards. Are you dizzy yet?

And yes, my house looks like a tornado hit it.

I am still determined to stop the madness. So I sit here with my tea in hand, Christmas tree lit, Lily watching Veggie Tales' St. Nicholas and a beautiful card my sister, Doreen, gave me a couple of Christmases ago.

It looks like a photograph of an oil painting. It's beautiful. Mary is holding Jesus in both hands. She's raised his head to her lips and is kissing his forehead, just as I did a hundred times to Lily when she was an infant. The first time I saw this card I couldn't stop staring at it. That gentle, intimate moment, which is just a flash in time, was captured forever.

I had recently had Lily, so this picture stirred up a lot of emotion. But it got me to thinking. Even though he was God, Mary loved him so deeply as only a parent can, adored him, felt dangerously protective over him, and probably couldn't stop staring at him with all his little parts. It made that miraculous moment in that stable thousands of years ago seem even more miraculous.

If Mary loved Jesus with such depth, even as much as I love Lily, how much more did God love his Son? How much more pain must the Father had felt when that precious Son died on the cross, felt pain and sorrow and shame? How much more must the Father love me for allowing all that to happen.

It's an overwhelming thought. But I am so, so thankful. I cannot comprehend it, so I'll just give God the praise and worship him in my heart by stopping and reflecting on Him this next week.