Christmas Day…
So today is Christmas day and it’s been a really nice one but a weird one. In less than a month I will be starting my new job in France and leaving all my friends behind and the people who I am starting to get to know better.
However, I am so excited for a new change and a time to grow and learn more about myself and who I am in relation to God and the world.
Today has been amazing… There is snow all over the ground, it’s freezing cold and sunny, the family has been getting on well and it’s peaceful. Last night, I went for a drink with two of my best friends in the world and had a lovely catch up and felt buzzy and warm and ready for Christmas. It brought home how much I’m going to miss those girls though, and how weird it will be not being able to just randomly go out for a drink with friends in France…to start with anyway!
Having had a bit of a fluey cold I decided not to go to Midnight Mass and settled down to a Baileys with the sister and uncle when I got home! Always a festive treat! We had stockings in bed in the morning – even though we’re long-since being children! Awesome breakfast before we went off to various churches. Meaningful carols and good friends. The talk struck a chord as we were encouraged us to give over the tough times of the last year to Jesus. It was so freeing to give it all back to Him and to be reminded again how he brings joy out of suffering. It made me feel wonderfully hopeful for the future and able to think that the hard times may be working out for good. We have been watching the BBC Nativity drama this week, which so movingly depicts the events and people leading up to Jesus’ birth. It ends with a voice reading out the beatitudes and really hit home the amazing gift of Jesus at Christmas, the reason we celebrate, and the wonderful, implications of his life and death for us.
Really worth a watch: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00x17bw/The_Nativity_Episode_4/
I went to see my old love after church and I thought the rest of the day would be really hard, but actually, it was so nice to see him, and the rest of the day has been amazing having done it. Nibbles and champers before the grandparents and aunties uncles and cousins arrived…a really special time together. I feel really close to my sister and brother and like we’re adults, and kind of, altered, but in a really good way I can’t explain.
So the lunch was amazing! Fantastic food, company etc. And I felt really old because the kids wanted to hurry up and open presents and I wanted to stay around the table because it was so lovely! And now I understand how the adults must’ve felt when we were children and always wanted to get on with the presents…so now I understand both feelings at Christmas and it’s nice!
Presents was fun! And although it’s weird not having a boyfriend anymore, its also nice to know I can stay at home for all of Christmas and not have to go dashing off to his when I’m feeling all tired and stuff… so there are definite plus sides…just being more free!
So what I have learned about Christmas this year…
…That it is wonderful just to be in the presence of family and friends, remembering God’s great love for us through sending Jesus…and just to love one another so much. Life can go by so quickly, and little moments of time spent together can be so magical…don’t let it pass you by.
