Christmas Will Be Different This Year
>> Thursday, December 10, 2015
The absence of my beloved husband, John, has forever changed
Christmas for me. Even though the Christmas season was rather low-key for us,
we did enjoy it in various ways. Some years we drove to Boise to spend it with
grandchildren. Sometimes we attended a festive Christmas concert. Shopping was
never a highlight. Several years ago we determined we would plan a special trip
for the two of us as our Christmas present to each other, as neither of us
enjoyed shopping.
He was the one who hauled the containers of decorations from
the garage. I had to this year. Each year he hung the wreath. I had to this
year. I decided to simplify. So I gave away my Christmas village. My
decorations are simple, highlighting manger scenes.
That works for me.
The second reason Christmas is different this year is that I
just returned from a trip to the Holy Land…the place the Christmas carols sing
about. When “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem” comes on the radio, I am immediately
transported to that city where I walked the streets and purchased a hand carved
manger scene made out of olive wood. When the song talks of shepherds keeping
watch over their flocks by night, I remember sitting on a rock in the
shepherd’s field. “Away in a Manger” has new meaning after seeing the kind of
stable and manger it is talking about. 
The timing of that trip was a great Christmas present to me.
Tears began streaming down my face as I typed those words. I had a sudden
realization. Due to some life insurance money, John gave me one last trip. He went with me in my heart and in my carryon.
I took the party favor from his graduation party to the Sea of Galilee and
spent 30 minutes there on the shore with him, then placed him in some rocks
beneath a tree and left him there.
The Sea of Galilee will never be the same for me.
“You’re blessed when you feel
you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One
most dear to you.” Matthew 5:4 (MSG)
