The True Meaning

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

A different Christmas this year,

I'm learning that my favorite holiday is not about the hand-picked Fraser fir decorated with ornaments my mom has given me over the years; it’s about the excitement on my little boy’s face when he runs to her whimsical tree every morning, pointing for us to turn on the lights.

Or about a fully decorated new home. Our dull brown bricks are finally painted white. Does that count?

And although, cooking Christmas Eve crab bisque in front of a cozy fire with my hubby sounds wonderful, so does pizza. Delivered.

I't not about our annual hosting of both of our families for a traditional Christmas morning breakfast casserole, fine china included. This year pastries from Fresh Market served on red and green plastics will do. As long as we’re all together.

And sleeping in a bed on Christmas Eve may not happen. We will spend the night in our new home, but depending on the timing and unloading of storage pods, we may be reading “the children were nestled all snug on their air mattress, while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads.”

This year, it’s more about the awe in Wills’ eyes as he stared into Santa’s at Beaufort’s annual Night on the Town. It’s about telling him the story of Jesus, born in a manger. It’s about love. 

  

          Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at   Heathrow Airport. General opinions starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around. 

                       –"Love Actually" (If I don’t get to see this at least once this Christmas, I may seriously dive    into the pod head first in search of this single DVD. Not kidding; it’s my favorite.)

This Christmas season, more than ever, I will remember what it’s really about. And I will celebrate the true meaning.