Christmas Eve Peace

Dear friends,

I can't believe it's already well after 10 PM on Christmas Eve. It was a busy day, finishing up last minute projects and errands, and taking a shot at cleaning up before the rest of the family comes over tomorrow. I didn't have time to make a full dinner, so we heated up some pizza rolls and biscuits. I try not to sweat the small stuff.

We enjoyed going to my daughter's church (where we were members for many years) for their candlelight Christmas Eve service and seeing old friends. So refreshing, too, to hear again of the abundant grace that God offers us in the gift of his son, Jesus.


I loved the black lanterns against the red lighted background above their stage (pictured above), and watching my grandson try to eat his necktie.


We all passed the candle flame, one wick to another, as we sang carols. "O Holy Night" is my favorite from tonight. (Watch Celine Dion sing it here.)

Back at home, as we usually do, the kids opened presents from one of their aunts. Then Daddy talked a little about Jesus being the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9). Tomorrow he will read Luke 2 before we open presents, another Christmas tradition at our house.

After two of our adult daughters went back to their own apartments, the house fell to a hush for about an hour. I lay on the old red couch with a snowman pillow tucked under my head and watched the Christmas lights reflect off of the spinning ceiling fan blades.

I thought of peace.

As a mother of many, my days are often more filled with chaos than calm.

So I am thankful for the quiet, even for just an hour. I basked in it, savored it in my soul. Not all Christmas Eves have been like this. Last year was particularly stressful.

And now I'm just going to straighten up the stuff that got shuffled into my bedroom during what "cleaning up" we already did, then go to bed. I think I heard rumors of a few of my kids planning to clean up some more after I'm asleep. I'll go with that. Either way, I'm not going to fret about it. What gets done gets done.

I'm just grateful that all of my kids and grandsons still live nearby and that we can enjoy the holidays together. It may not always be this way, so I don't take it for granted.

​​I hope that you all have a blessed Christmas and that you know that you are loved deeply by God and others.

Peace.

Virginia
www.VirginiaKnowles.blogspot.com