It's Almost The First Day of Christmas

It's almost here -- the First Day of Christmas.  It is almost time to do whatever the Christmas Eve traditions are in our families.  In my hubby's family, my mother-in-law would always make oyster stew, white cornbread, and candle salad--a flat piece of leaf lettuce, a half of a banana standing upright, a little bit of mayo/cream cheese mixture that had been colored with red food coloring, with 1/4 of a maraschino cherry in the top like a flame.  We have continued that tradition for many years, even though my in-laws are both gone now.  It is not only now our families tradition but it is a way of remembering so many years when they were still with us and when our kids were little.  

We always opened our presents on Christmas eve--my dad started that.  He always said that Christmas Eve was for us, and Christmas Day was for Jesus--it's his birthday anyway.  So we got to have our oyster stew supper, then we all had a mug of hot chocolate, we would gather around the Christmas tree, my hubby would read the Christmas story out of the Gospel of Luke, and then we would open presents.  We always handed the gifts out, one child at a time.  Everyone had to wait while that person opened their presents.  This started when my sister and I were young--we only got two or three presents.  One from my parents, and one from each of my grandparents.  It just made the presents last a little bit longer.  Even now, with our grown-up kids and our in-law children and grandkids with us, we still take the time to enjoy each person's presents.  I think everyone likes being in the spot-light for just a little while.

I heard a wonderful song the other day and the lyrics really impressed me.

Do you remember me
I sat upon your knee
I wrote to you
With childhood fantasies.
Well, I'm all grown up now
And still need help somehow;
I'm not a child
But my heart still can dream.
So here's my lifelong wish
My grown up Christmas list:
Not for myself
But for a world in need.
No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end.
This is my grown up Christmas list.

It's my sincere wish that all of you and yours will experience true joy and peace during this Christmas season, and I continue to hope that we will all take some time to find ways to help those who have so little and share some of the great prosperity that we all have experienced.

Merry Christmas to you all!!