The Salad Days

Yesterday was an unusual Christmas. For the first time in our lives, we were alone. You see, even the Christmases we had in Chicago, we had visitors. Yesterday, it was just Steph, the kids, and me. Corrie bounded about the dining room with great joy at the opportunity to put the Baby Jesus in his manger on our advent calender. It was an unusual, uniquely joyful experience to let our kids set the pace with the gift exchange. We simply were able to let them enjoy their gifts at their pace, because....we had no where we had to be. The kids could enjoy each gift (Jack loved his beach ball), and Steph and I could sit back and let Corrie distribute the gifts.

The leisurely gift exchange blended together with our eating pattern yesterday. We had no planned meal besides breakfast...we had simply bought several TJ's appetizers to munch on throughout the day. We hung around the house, went on a walk, and enjoyed an evening with the kids. I played Uno with Corrie (she got that from us), and watched Jack be attached to his new little Thomas the Tank Engine toy.

And through it all, the presence of the Christ child in the manger was above it all. I go back to work early tomorrow, and we await the arrival of Steph's parents today. Next week, we go to California for a late Christmas. We so excited for all that those things will bring. We missed our parents, siblings and nephews a lot yesterday. And it reminds us that there is a cost to everything. But it was wonderful to have yesterday, a most holy of days, feel like a Sabbath. A day we could truly reflect upon Christ, and hear the sound of quiet.