Reflecting On My Christmas

Today is Christmas. Today is one of the very few times of the year when you can get to spend time with your family. No one is going off to see their friends, and no one is going to work. Spending time with family at Christmas is what makes this holiday so special. Many people enjoy the food, and everyone enjoys giving and receiving a gift or two. I love receiving gifts. In fact, I was given one of my favorite gifts recently. It was a wax burner giftset that I could finally use with the burner that I’ve got. I’d been dying to add a fragrance to our home for a while, and now I finally had the chance. It was great, and I loved it that much that I’ve even given similar giftsets to my friends. I hope their expression is as good as mine was when I opened mine. Last year I got given a gorgeous gift box from a company like Bestowe (they even sell corporate gifts) and I was thrilled! I understand that Christmas isn’t about presents but it was such a treat!

But this year, our family Christmas will look a little bit different.

Today my family and I didn’t exchange any gifts nor did we decorate. In the previous years, we used to ready our house for Christmas. The buzz of decoration was palpable from a month ago. So much hard work went into making every nook and corner of the house look perfect, from considering to opt for Deck Oiling to remove the signs of patchiness from it to applying a fresh coat of bright colours like yellow or fuchsia to make the house look livelier. Besides this, we used to buy gifts, more than a handful of them to express our gratitude for each other. However, this time, we did not do all these!

It was quite unusual for us, given that we exchanged everyone, including our neighbors. Using a courier service to send gifts to our relatives was also part of our plan last year, but that never really happened. This Christmas, our gift was just spending time together as a family and feeling blessed to have been given another day of life. We all woke up and got to talk to each other. There were no worries about having to get up and be anywhere or do anything.

I realized that although I wish that I could get my family any and everything that they want that in reality it just isn’t possible. There is always going to be something that we want but can’t have. When times are rough and my kids can’t have the latest thing that they want or just have to have I sometimes wonder if they will grow up to hate me. However I have come to realize that God has blessed The Husband and I with the most wonderful and understanding children a parent can ever have. They no that when we are able to do things for them we will and that they will eventually be able to get it if they haven’t moved on to the next thing by then. I really love that about them.

Then as much as we all have things that we want but can’t have today I focused on the things that I on most days take for granted that others wish they could have. A roof over my head, food to eat, clothes to wear, a healthy family, and the ability to be able to hug, talk, and spend time with them.

This Christmas for me did not focus on the gifts that I would receive but on the gifts that I already have and man when I think about I am truly blessed and loved.

Merry Christmas to you all. I hope you enjoyed your day and cherished every moment of it with those that you love.