"And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21
Christmas. Just saying the word sometimes evokes the very thought of warmth. What does it mean to you? To me it means so many things. Maybe even more than those that are so apparent on the surface. This Christmas will feature a huge..wait let me type that again...this Christmas will feature a HUGE snowstorm just prior to all the festivities. Wow! Looks like we may be sledding and skiing for the holiday!
I think about our ancestors. The grandparents that took the chance and "headed West" or maybe headed to the "new territory". When those family members left it was quite common to never see them again. Letters, if you could afford to send word, were the only form of contact after that family member or members left the area.
You know...there is just something special about going home for the holidays. Mr. Flanagan and I have chosen to relocate to the other side of our beautiful state as many of you know. This choice has been a phenomenal one and we don't regret in an instant moving. However it surely makes one homesick for what we are accustomed to having around us. For example, when my daughters are sick I am not just a drive away, I am four hours away. I made Christmas cookies alone. Baking cookies and Christmas candy is something I have done with family members for all of my life. My grandsons are growing by leaps and bounds...and I now only see them once a month.
With our decision to move the ties that bond become that much tighter. We appreciate the visits more. We wish for them to linger longer. We hope and look forward to the next visit.
The same 'ole, same 'ole is just not the same anymore. I cannot help but think of my great, great, great, grand-father Abraham Scholl. He was a great friend of Daniel Boone and the two men decided to move their families to the Northwest Territories. Imagine! Moving all the way from Kentucky and the only way of life you know to a vast land called a territory ...the Illinois area. Nothing. No one. Vast open space. Family as you know it now has changed and moved on to a new definition. So like Flanagan and myself, we moved on and family has taken on a different definition. We now have adopted family where we live...and we strive to make sure we travel back to see our family at home. Where once it took months to travel takes a mere 3.5 hours (except for this day in which I drove through an ice storm; this trip home took me 5 hours!) Five hours. I complain about 5 hours in a soft seat of a warm car traveling at 45 miles an hour because of the icy roads. Roads. Not hard, uncut terrain, but paved highways and roads. Imagine hours, days, months on a hard wooden buggy seat with only your "necessary for survival" possessions with you.
My children complain that they do not get to see me as often and that I am missing out on so much. (Well they could come and see me sometimes which they do not). "Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go..." Imagine having your folks decide to load up the wagons and leave never to see them again! I see so many images of the Conestoga wagon filled with barrels and boxes...drawn sad, maybe hardened faces of the families slowly plodding along to new lands. What were they thinking? How were they feeling?
Christmas. Again...just saying the word evokes warmth. "Blest be the tie that binds", a beautiful hymn...what does Christmas mean to you? It means so many things to me; it is a celebration of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. It is pretty clear that important celebration has lost its meaning to most. We are so caught up in the commercialism of the season. Living upon a hill on 725 acres I don't often shop. When I do my senses are flooded with stimuli. This year the commercial Christmas banter was almost too much for me to take. I was almost sickened by the pasty red Santa's, the red-nosed reindeer posters, and the little elves everywhere. And can I just say that "A hard candy Christmas" is about one of the worst Christmas songs I have ever heard!!!!! Over and over and over. ENOUGH!
I think about our ancestors. The grandparents that took the chance and "headed West" or maybe headed to the "new territory". When those family members left it was quite common to never see them again. Letters, if you could afford to send word, were the only form of contact after that family member or members left the area.
You know...there is just something special about going home for the holidays. Mr. Flanagan and I have chosen to relocate to the other side of our beautiful state as many of you know. This choice has been a phenomenal one and we don't regret in an instant moving. However it surely makes one homesick for what we are accustomed to having around us. For example, when my daughters are sick I am not just a drive away, I am four hours away. I made Christmas cookies alone. Baking cookies and Christmas candy is something I have done with family members for all of my life. My grandsons are growing by leaps and bounds...and I now only see them once a month.
With our decision to move the ties that bond become that much tighter. We appreciate the visits more. We wish for them to linger longer. We hope and look forward to the next visit.
The same 'ole, same 'ole is just not the same anymore. I cannot help but think of my great, great, great, grand-father Abraham Scholl. He was a great friend of Daniel Boone and the two men decided to move their families to the Northwest Territories. Imagine! Moving all the way from Kentucky and the only way of life you know to a vast land called a territory ...the Illinois area. Nothing. No one. Vast open space. Family as you know it now has changed and moved on to a new definition. So like Flanagan and myself, we moved on and family has taken on a different definition. We now have adopted family where we live...and we strive to make sure we travel back to see our family at home. Where once it took months to travel takes a mere 3.5 hours (except for this day in which I drove through an ice storm; this trip home took me 5 hours!) Five hours. I complain about 5 hours in a soft seat of a warm car traveling at 45 miles an hour because of the icy roads. Roads. Not hard, uncut terrain, but paved highways and roads. Imagine hours, days, months on a hard wooden buggy seat with only your "necessary for survival" possessions with you.
My children complain that they do not get to see me as often and that I am missing out on so much. (Well they could come and see me sometimes which they do not). "Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go..." Imagine having your folks decide to load up the wagons and leave never to see them again! I see so many images of the Conestoga wagon filled with barrels and boxes...drawn sad, maybe hardened faces of the families slowly plodding along to new lands. What were they thinking? How were they feeling?
Christmas. Again...just saying the word evokes warmth. "Blest be the tie that binds", a beautiful hymn...what does Christmas mean to you? It means so many things to me; it is a celebration of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. It is pretty clear that important celebration has lost its meaning to most. We are so caught up in the commercialism of the season. Living upon a hill on 725 acres I don't often shop. When I do my senses are flooded with stimuli. This year the commercial Christmas banter was almost too much for me to take. I was almost sickened by the pasty red Santa's, the red-nosed reindeer posters, and the little elves everywhere. And can I just say that "A hard candy Christmas" is about one of the worst Christmas songs I have ever heard!!!!! Over and over and over. ENOUGH!
I am looking forward to a simple Christmas. Maybe a gift for Mr. Flanagan and I. Certainly not five or six or seven of them competing with whoever else is giving gifts.
This year Mr. Flanagan and I are going to take Christmas dinner and ourselves out to the barn. There where the horses are bedded, and the chickens are nestled we will lay out our little, simple celebration. We will have candle lanterns and oil lamps lit carefully and strategically. Maybe some hot chocolate or a warm toddy? Nothing dressy, no big expensive meal, not a ton of gifts, no huge, bright Christmas tree, and no noise. Sounds lovely to me. It is quite fitting isn't it? After all our Lord was born into just as humble of an estate. It almost seems appropriate to celebrate our Savior's birth outside of the warm farm house and inside of a barn filled with hay and critters. I quite look forward to it myself. Christmas to me is not the gala's, the lights, the music, the colors, or all the other trappings. Christmas to me is the "presence" not the "presents". In lieu of the recent tragedy in Connecticut I find my views on family, moving, celebrations, and priorities to be so much more. So much more dear and precious.
A very Merry Christmas to you dear ones. Please remember we celebrated the holiday way before Santa or Rudolf came into existence. We celebrated this day because of our Savior's birth. It is a poverty that this very reason has seemingly been taken out of this season...
This year Mr. Flanagan and I are going to take Christmas dinner and ourselves out to the barn. There where the horses are bedded, and the chickens are nestled we will lay out our little, simple celebration. We will have candle lanterns and oil lamps lit carefully and strategically. Maybe some hot chocolate or a warm toddy? Nothing dressy, no big expensive meal, not a ton of gifts, no huge, bright Christmas tree, and no noise. Sounds lovely to me. It is quite fitting isn't it? After all our Lord was born into just as humble of an estate. It almost seems appropriate to celebrate our Savior's birth outside of the warm farm house and inside of a barn filled with hay and critters. I quite look forward to it myself. Christmas to me is not the gala's, the lights, the music, the colors, or all the other trappings. Christmas to me is the "presence" not the "presents". In lieu of the recent tragedy in Connecticut I find my views on family, moving, celebrations, and priorities to be so much more. So much more dear and precious.
A very Merry Christmas to you dear ones. Please remember we celebrated the holiday way before Santa or Rudolf came into existence. We celebrated this day because of our Savior's birth. It is a poverty that this very reason has seemingly been taken out of this season...
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