Christmas is all in the heart

Have you ever heard this song by Steven Curtis Chapman? Damien and I joke that this is our "theme" song for this Christmas. In all honestly, it doesn't feel a ton like Christmas. Our home doesn't feel like "home". We are still in transition. This incredible city we live in hardly recognizes anything special about December 25. We miss the hustle and bustle of people during this time of year. We miss the excitement in the air. We miss packing up and driving home. We miss the cold. Yes, I actually said I miss the cold. But only because it helps set the tone for Christmas. I'd just want it for about two weeks leading up to the Holidays. :-) I'm not talking about freezing...50s would be just fine! Then it could get warm again. And of course, most of all we miss our families.

But we keep reminding ourselves that Christmas is not about the "feelings" we get from the environment around us. It's not about Christmas lights on every street or Christmas music at the mall. Maybe we have an opportunity here...to actually focus more on why we celebrate and not let everything else get in the way. But still, we miss it.

We don't regret being here. We know it's where we are supposed to be. Knowing that definitely makes it easier. Having our family (the 5 of us) makes it easier too. I can't imagine how hard it must be for the singles here.

It was just a little too sad to spend Christmas at D-town (our apartment). The dirty cement walls, florescent lights, and the fact that it just doesn't feel like "home". So we booked a hotel. And we're so thankful because it is the perfect place for us to spend the next few days. It's comfortable. Someone gave us a Christmas tree so we brought it and set it up here. And best of all - there is carpet on the floor! We haven't seen carpet in 3 months and I didn't realize how much I miss it! We are excited and are going to soak up the next four days. The kids are excited about celebrating Jesus' birthday. Of course, they are excited about presents as well, but I'm still glad that they constantly are talking about how it's a special day because Jesus was born. It's a bummer that we haven't been able to do many of our usual Christmas traditions. I am so ready to bake! Even though we haven't been much in the spirit of Christmas we've been really trying hard to do little things here and there to make it meaningful for the kids.

So, back to the song. It's about how even if you don't have money for presents or all of the Christmas things, you can still celebrate because it's about how you feel in your heart. And we're thankful that God has been helping us realize that even if we don't have the surroundings and traditions we usually have at Christmas we can still have Christmas in our heart. The feelings should come from remembering the sacrifice He made. And from trying to show others the love that Jesus showed us. My favorite line is, "And even if no white snow falls that's alright because the joy can still be found wherever you are, cause Christmas is all in the heart."