Christmas Eve

Anticipation

| Marie Griffith

Part of the enjoyment of something is the anticipation of it. Like a birthday or Christmas or a vacation.

I’ve noticed that younger ones burst with anticipation over the simplest things and aren’t shy about expressing it. An expected package can cause excited watching for days and days with my kids. And the excitement over Christmas or our annual family vacation starts months in advance.

With this anticipation comes joy and laughter and a readiness for the thing that is being eagerly awaited.

And then the day before the day comes……..Christmas Eve…….or the day before we leave on vacation……and the kids are so excited that it’s almost as good as the day.

And finally the day has come and the hearts of the ones who have joyfully anticipated it are enlarged and ready to take it all in. Then they delight in every moment and treasure it forever.

That’s how the good kind of memories are made.

Waiting

Image | | Marie Griffith

Christmas time is a nostalgic season. This year more than ever.

The memories of long ago Christmases…..the wishing and the dreaming and the waiting.  The waiting was one of the best parts because the waiting meant preparing.

Decorating and baking and shopping and wrapping.  The Christmas music. Mom’s orange balls. The twinkling lights. Grandmother’s little white church with the light inside that shone through the stained glass windows. Her ambrosia. The gathering of our big family and playing with all the cousins on Christmas Eve.

And this Santa ornament. Mom let me have it a long time ago. She was cleaning out her Christmas stuff and decided she didn’t want him or Mrs. Clause any more. His jolly round face reminds me of those days….the days of the waiting for Christmas morning.

The joy and longing and the hope that filled my heart as a child fills my heart still………even more…….each day.

For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth.      Psalm 71:5 NIV

In response to the Daily Post’s Anticipation.

Down

| Marie Griffith

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to SAVE the world through him. John 3:16-17

On this Christmas Eve let us remember that God came down to us,

for us,

because of us.

Let it sink down deep into our hearts that He came to us.

Rejoice! He is here.

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.
1 Timothy 1:15