A Christmas Missive

I contributed to my DVD horde today by purchasing some Gilmore Girls (I'm not afraid to admit that I like this show) and the two volumes of Warner Bros. Holiday DVD Collection. My, that's a lot of DVDs in my collection. Anyway, I watched the first disc in Volume 1 of the collction, Boys Town (and on the flip side, Men of Boys Town. What a great movie or two. Both of these spoke to something in my heart, but more of that later.

I started watching A Christmas Carol from 1938 with Reginald Owen as Scrooge. And I got to thinking about our life in America today, what our expectations are about things, and all that kind of thing. In particular, about Christmas. I could go on about how commercialized Christmas has become and how we might just as well call it X-Mas for all we don't think about Christ and His birth. (And yes, I know the "x" really does stand for Christ, but in today's world, it's not understood or generally meant as a substitute for Christ). And to be honest, I've played a bit into this commercialism this year, but I do it out of love rather than obligation. ($200 isn't too much to spend on my mother, but don't let her read that! LOL.)

What is Christmas for beside a celebration of the birth of our Savior? I think spending time with family is important. In the past, I've always looked forward to Christmas. This year, though, with the death of my father, I've been dreading these holidays. When I think about it, that he's gone, it truly brings me to tears. And my poor mother, all alone now. She and my father had made plans, well, not so much plans as enjoying being with each other, and they were looking forward to retirement.

Again, I know I'm not the first person to lose a parent, and I'm blessed that he was around for as long as he was. And still, it hurts more than I can tell. As a friend who has passed this way told me, this is not something you can practice for or really even prepare for. You can expect it, but that's it. I know he's out of his suffering, and still it hurts. I can only trust that God will see us all through.