A Splendiferous Season

And so it begins... my first week before Christmas 1000's of miles from my family, traditions of my own to create, and a smack-down with the reality of being a grown up nurse in a 24/7 hospital:) It'll be my first Christmas to stay up all night and wait for Santa though! That's pretty cool... I remember the days that I could say that I'd never pulled an all nighter. Now I do it regularly!

I get so nostalgic just about every other moment of the day. The first day someone played Christmas music at work, I had to fight tears. So then I made myself listen to Christmas music all day long when I was off so that it wouldn't affect me so much!:) It worked. Now I don't blubber at the first notes of "Oh Holy Night!"

How precious Christmas season is, yeah? It is beautiful... the anticipation, the lights, the festivities... it's almost like we can set aside reality for a bit and get lost in a magical world of kindness and generosity. Sometimes when I think about little baby Jesus and young teen Mary and Joseph's honorable faithfulness... I'm absolutely awestruck and my mouth hangs open. It's the feeling that C.S. Lewis talks about when he says "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." I think Christmas awakens those desires. I desire to say thank you thank you thank you! to Jesus for coming and laying in a mucky manger. For God orchestrating divine visitors, for little babes sacrificing their lives (without choice albeit) so that little Jesus could grow up to be our Savior. I am curious to know what he was like as a little toddler, a kindergärtner, a preteen, a teen, a twenty year old, etc. Why is God secretive about that? He is going to regret it when I pummel him with questions when I get to Heaven!!:):)

In any case, I wish wonder... magnificent wonder this Christmas to every person I see. And that somehow, we as Christians can be stubborn and hold onto the wonder even after 3pm on the 25th when all the Christmas presents are unwrapped, the ham and turkey have been cooked and demolished, and all the Christmas parties are checked off the list. Because our story continues past the 25th and it is a magnificent story to live in.

Merry Christmas with lots of hugs and kisses to you from me:)

P.S. Did you know "splendiferous" is actually a word? Yup... Thesaurus.reference.com says so.