Whatever: What Christmas really means

Christmas Day is a week away.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the season thus far. 

No, I am not done shopping.

Yes, it has been stressful trying to stretch recession dollars to be exactly what I want them to be. 

But the shopping is not the reason for the season.

Love is. 

God's love for us humans, His creation. And the thing that makes us human, our love for others.

We are lucky to have one person to love, especially if they love us back.

The one I love

We are blessed beyond the human imagination to have a family, friends, and neighbors who love us.

It is easy to let life beat us down and allow the pettiness of slights and annoyances cloud our minds. 

We can forget what love feels like. 

Losing a loved one brings it all slamming back to us. 

The absence of that love makes us remember how much we need it and how lucky we were to have it.

I have been very fortunate that I have not lost many loved ones.

Grandparents who shaped me and made me who I am, have gone on.

Pap

Those absences catch me by surprise sometimes and take my breath away.

Grandmother

I have parents who have lost their parents in the past year and a half (two) and in the past few years.

The hole in their lives must be almost unbearable.

Christmas is the time I feel so full of love. 

My children make my heart hurt.

My husband always finds something to catch me off guard. 

My family rallies together and even if we are apart, we are on the same page sending thoughts and well wishes to each other.

Siblings...

I sit in church and look at the love passing from one person to the next. 

We are lucky. We are loved.

It is almost like a chant that passes through the pews.

God is here in our midst. 

We are loved.

I love Christmas for these reasons. I know it is so sappy, but I am sappy.

Merry Christmas.