Why hello there dear new friends. It seems that Christmas time is coming upon us. Didn't we just finish off the Thanksgiving leftovers? My my. Do you remember Christmas as a kid? Do you remember that feeling you got in your stomach everytime you thought about that special morning? Thinking about all the cool stuff you'd get. How long has it been since you felt that? For me, I can't remember when I felt it last. Not sure why, but doesn't it seem like the farther you get into your years, the less magical things become? Now, I'm not saying Santa is the cure here, I believe in Santa as much as any rational person would, not at all. Still, there is a certain tingle of magic about Christmas. And you know what? I miss that. And I wanted to get it back. I wanted to do something that would make me feel like Christmas was worth while this year.So, what did I do? I hiked two miles into the woods, (which was actually up quite a steep hill) with a saw, and I cut down my own tree! In the snow! I felt like I had accomplished a great feat. I got home, showed my mom, and we rejoiced together. We set to decorate it. And after we were done, I sat in my favorite chair, looked at my tree, and boasted to myself how good I had done, and waited for the feeling. It didn't come. I stared at the tree, and thought about waking up early to see it and....it wasn't there. How upsetting! This great thing I had done was not getting me the results I wanted. Distressed, I turned to my mother. She was obliviously happy. She looked around smiling at the decorations, then, on the pictures of my bothers. "They'll like this," she said. She thought I did it for them, not for me. I had done it for me! How selfish! I berated myself for a moment, then thought about seeing my brothers on Christmas.The smiles on their faces, and how much I missed those smiles. Then, there is was. The feeling. Ever so slightly in the pit of my stomach. Pure joy. I almost cried I was so happy. And I knew I had learned something. It's not about Santa, or waking up early on purpose one day out of the year, it's not about gifts, it's not about food, or even silly endeavors for trees. It's about wonder like a child, and the love of family. Both of my older brothers are in the Navy, and I haven't seen them for months, one of them over a year. And I get them home this year. And all I had thought about was how great THIS would make me feel. I get to spend my special morning with special people. And I will celebrate the true magic. Not elves, or flying deer. A baby. A baby born in a barn,with animals. So, I will spend this Christmas not celebrating myself, as I thought it should be. But I will celebrate the birth of a Savior, the coming home of loved ones, and the magic of selfless-ness. That myfriends, is a true miracle.
Think of Christmas as you will. But I choose this one.
"With love," Mon Ami says.
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