Christmas Letter Excerpt

Obligatory Family Holiday Update

Dear Friends and Family,
Here is the required family update on us – the short version.
Hubs: still married to MOTY, working at Chrysler, loving fatherhood
MOTY: still married to Hubs, staying at home, loving motherhood
Diva: 2 ½ years old, budding extrovert, polite but tenacious, majoring in finger-
paint with a minor in potty-training at playschool one half-day per week
Mutt: 8 years old, still acts like a puppy, loves to watch TV
Merry Christmas!


If that doesn’t cut it for your desire to read Christmas letters, please continue reading. Those who want to discard this now, go ahead. But you’ll be missing the good stuff…

What I Want to Say Now that Hubs Isn’t Looking

Dear Friends and Family,

As I sit and type this letter we are awaiting the first big snowfall of the season. Within the next 24 hours, there could be as many as 10 inches of snow on the ground. The temperature has dropped to a chilly sub-freezing mark, and all is right for Christmastime. Well, that’s how I feel right now; just days ago I was feeling anything BUT the spirit of the holidays.

I have very fond memories of Christmases past, heavy with the echoes of childhood Christmas hymns, the delightful sweetness of sugar cookies with my grandmother, and the wonder that enveloped the holy miracle of the season. I can still smell Christmas dinner wafting from Gram’s kitchen and hear the whisper of Bing Crosby on the AM radio. Even today I recall the German lyrics to Silent Night as I sang them year after year in a candlelit church all gussied up in my Christmas dress and patent leather shoes.

Stille Nacht, heilege Nacht!

Alles schläft einsam wacht

Nur das heilege Elternpaar,

Das im Stalle zu Bethlehem war.

Bei dem himmlischen Kind.

Bei dem himmlischen Kind.

But, last Saturday as I stood in the soul-chilling tundra of the mall watching as anxiety-riddled parents struggled to succumb to their children’s holiday wishes, my heart was destitute. I couldn’t conjure up the sentiments of those memories, and my spirit was heavy and longing for the times of old when Christmas meant that all was right with the world. I’m not sure if this is part of growing up and enduring adulthood, but I hated feeling that way. When did Christmas become about finding the best deal on men’s slacks or the newest gaming system? Commercialism be damned; I wanted my Christmas back!

Tonight I was fortunate to catch the last 15 or so minutes of It’s a Wonderful Life, and it put my mind to work. I have a bit of inspiration for you, as I’ve heard that many of you are feeling just as I did last Saturday. I’ll try to keep it short, but as a type-A aspiring writer, that may be hard to do.

I am infinitely blessed to have so many good things in my life. If I were to list them all in this letter, I fear I could not afford postage to send this to you. It will have to suffice to shorten the list to friends, family, health, finances, and faith. How fortunate I feel to know the true and enduring love of so many beautiful people and the mercy of a God who presented Himself on earth 2000 years ago. Tonight I am speechless at the magnitude of wonderful people and things God has placed in my life.

This is my new Christmas wish: that my daughter will one day have a stockpile of Christmas memories as big as or even bigger than hubby's or mine. And someday when the Christmas programs have ceased and the magic of Christmas gifts has faded, it is my hope for Little Diva that her heart will be just as merry and bright knowing that Christmas is about the greatest gift of all – the gracious love of God that He has freely given us that we may give it to each other.

My family’s prayer for all of you is that your Christmas will be filled with a light bigger than any Christmas display you will see, a gift more expensive than any you could buy, and a heart more peaceful than even the most serene snowfall could bring. We wish you all the best of health, happiness, and prosperity in the year to come.