What are you celebrating this Christmas?

Yesterday I posted a question on my Facebook Status, asking why it is that someone who does not believe in Christ would celebrate Christmas. I became perplexed by this question two weeks ago while at my Doctor's office. For those of you who do not know, I see a Pain Management Doctor to help me manage my almost 9 years of chronic pain as the result of a herniated disk in 2001 and a failed back surgery in 2002.

Each month when I see my Dr. we usually do some small talk while he is writing out my prescriptions. In one of my first visits with him back in August I asked him what he knew about a particular Christian school we were considering for Kyle. He chuckled slightly and said, "I wouldn't know, nor would I want to...I'm agnostic" He then went on to tell me about the several charter schools in the area and how they worked better for them as they were secular. He finished by telling me that even though the Charter school that his son and daughter go to is secular, that the vast majority of the kids going there are Christian. (our general area is known as the bible belt of our southern state...so that did not surprise me) Not knowing what my belief system was he continued by describing that he wishes that those "darn Christian kids" would just keep their mouths shut around his kids. He told me that his son had just had a fist fight with a kid after they debated whether Christ was the son of God or not. In conclusion he went on to tell me that he and his wife have told their kids that they do not need to follow or believe in a fictional character like Jesus and that they should always stand their ground when other kids are talking about Jesus at school. I just sat there listening and nodding, offering nothing in response. I took my prescription, said good bye and left. As I drove home that day, I gave a lot of thought to this new Dr. of mine, and a lot of thought to his kids....

My next few visits went by without mention of his agnostic beliefs. He did ask me what school we chose for Kyle and we briefly discussed the Charter School we had chosen. This month however, as he was handing me my prescription I said, "Merry Christmas" and then said..."uh, I mean Happy Holidays" remembering he was agnostic. He then told me that it was fine to say Merry Christmas to him because just because he did not believe in Christ did not mean that he and his family did not celebrate Christmas. He proceeded to tell me about his tree and what his kids wanted for Christmas. I only smiled and left. By the time I got to my car, I found myself feeling very, very confused. I kept thinking to myself...."O.K., this guy has told me that he does not believe in Jesus and that he in fact thinks he is a fictional character...., yet he celebrates Christmas...what in the world?"

As the next week passed and I was shopping for gifts and people watching I couldn't help but wonder how many of the people that were at the mall shopping for gifts celebrated Christmas for the REAL REASON, the celebration of the birth of Christ. I began to realize that there were probably many people there that Christmas is nothing more than a tree, gifts and Santa Claus. To others, it might be a special time to get together with family or a time to give to the needy. All of these reasons are nice, but in my opinion they are celebrating something other than Christmas.

In fact it is not just MY opinion that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Wikepedia describes Christmas as "an annual Christian holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ." Additionally, 90 percent of all Christmas songs refer to the birth of Christ. Wikepedia does go on to say that Christmas is widely celebrated by many non Christians. So again, I ask...why? If you are not celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ then you are clearly not celebrating Christmas. In my opinion it would be no different than if I suddenly started celebrating Hanukkah. It would make no sense. I don't believe in the Jewish faith, or in the reasons for celebrating Hanukkah, therefore I would not and I'm sure many Jewish people would agree that I SHOULD not celebrate it.

Growing up, we always celebrated Christmas as Jesus' birthday. In fact, my Mom would make a cake and we would sing "Happy Birthday to Jesus." At the time, we did not go to church on a regular basis and I definately did not have a relationship with Jesus. However, I did know that he was the "Son of God" (although it was not until I was 35 years old that I knew what that all entailed and what it meant for me) and that we were celebrating his birth as someone very special indeed. I thank my parents so much for being sure that we knew that the day was in honor of Jesus.

Perhaps another national holiday should be commemorated this time of year for those who don;t or won't celebrate Christmas as the celebration of the birth of Christ. Perhaps on December 24th this day could be called "Winter Celebration" or something like that. That would make more sense to me.

In conclusion I will ask again, "What are you celebrating this year? Is it Christ's birth? If your answer is no, than perhaps you should ask yourself what ARE you celebrating???

The feather story

I gave a lot of thought to what I would give to my blog readers for Christmas. A new recipe? A Christmas poem? Then it became clear to me what the best gift would be. A story. A story full of love and hope. The perfect kind of story for Christmas.

Once upon a time there was a young boy named David. One day he was out in the back yard playing when he happened upon a feather. He immediately scooped up the feather and ran inside to show his Mom.

"Mom!, Mom!, "he declared, "look what I found!"

"What is it?" asked his Mom, Mitzi.

"Look Mom, it's a feather. I picked it up and brought it to you. It's special, because before I picked it up, it had never been touched by human hands before."

David then gently placed the feather into Mitzi's hand and she stooped down to kiss David's forehead.

"I will treasure it forever", she said to her small boy.

As the years passed by and David grew from a young boy, to a teen, to a man; Mitzi and David continued to give each other feathers. Perhaps Mitzi would find one on the ground while walking up the path to the mail box, or David would see one while watering the plants at the nursery he worked at. In more recent years, the feathers became more elaborate. David would give her a Christmas ornament that was a replica of a feather, or Mitzi would buy a bouquet of peacock feathers that would be placed in a vase in David's home.

Sadly, two years ago...Mitzi passed away. Great sadness filled David's heart. As he sat at her memorial service on a beautiful summer day his heart was broken. As if Mitzi knew that David needed a sign...something to make him feel her presence, suddenly a feather drifted in from the open door of the auditorium. It magically floated through the air and then landed right next to the urn where Mitzi's ashes laid to rest. Stunned and awestruck, David could hardly believe his eyes..nor could his Dad Harry or sister Debi who had long been aware of the importance of feathers between mother and son.

As the days became weeks and weeks became months...Mitzi's husband Harry and her children David and Debi began to encounter feathers. One day Harry had set up the ladder and was ready to climb up to the roof to clean the leaves out of the gutters. The phone rang and he ran in to get it. When he returned to the ladder a feather was sitting on the bottom rung of the ladder. It was Mitzi saying "be careful." She always hated it when Harry would go on the roof as she worried for his safety.

Or the times when Debi would take her morning walks and would spend some quiet time with Mom, talking to her and grieving. One day she sat down on a bench to rest and when she looked down, a feather was there to greet her.

The first Thanksgiving without Mom, David held the feast at his home. David was feeling especially sad that day and wore his grief on his sleeve. While inside preparing the dinner, his young 5 year old son Jack came running in with a feather.

"This is for you Dad" Jack sang, and then happily skipped away.

With his mouth wide open and many family members standing there to see, everyone knew who gave Jack the feather....

Recently, Debi's husband secured a job in a new town and they went house hunting. After looking at several houses and not finding anything that worked; they drove up to a house that just felt right. After touring the home and yards, Debi walked on to the front lawn to get a closer look at the tree, when she glanced down to see....yes, a feather. She immediately called Kevin and her son Kyle over to show them. She then said, "We're home"

**For over two years, my Mom Mitzi has continued to communicate with us by placing feathers in our paths. She has reached through from the after world to continue to show us that she is watching over us and guiding us. The picture of the feather at the beginning of this post is the feather that we found on our lawn of the home we moved into this past Summer. At last count I have over a dozen feathers, all remarkably almost identical in appearance that I have collected as gifts from my Mother. The best gifts don't come from a store, or are wrapped in a box with a bow. It is the gifts of love that are the true meaning of Christmas.

Deck the Halls!!!

Jesus our Lord and Savior (the reason for the Season!)

Every year I am gifted at least one Joy ornament, and this year was no exception. This cut out glittery Joy is from my friend Gina

and this one is from Beverly!

the tech center in our loft was the perfect place to line up the 3 little woodland trees, you can see them from down stairs too.

our cozy Christmas loft

When Kate was born, my Mom started a snowman collection for her, and a bear collection for him. Each Thanksgiving she would give the kids their snowman or bear. Here is Kyle's bear collection.

a view of the dining room from the stairs

this precious nativity scene was Moms

finally, a reason to love the green tile in the kitchen it just WORKS at Christmas!

my Mom painted this little Santa (one of my most treasured decorations)

I made this last year. I also made one for Beverly.

..and I made this count down the days tree this year!

if this isn't the cutest Snowman..

Mom started this Christmas Angel collection for me in 2002, I plan on adding to it each year...still looking for this years angel.

Deck the Halls (cont)

I treated us to a new centerpiece for our dining table this year.

so fun to decorate stairs again!

My new friend Herika shared this idea w/ me (tying a wreath to a chair!)

Mom's beloved Santa collection

I love snowmen!!!

lots of room for the Christmas village this year!

fun to decorate a mantle again!

The formal tree

Thanksgiving 2009

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week at Dad and Polly's. Kev, Kyle and I drove from our city to their house, and Kate drove from her college town. It worked out well to have us sort of "meet in the middle" so to speak. The drive was especially long for Kate, but she did well and did not seem to mind. We all arrived Tuesday night. We spent Wednesday exploring a popular eating and shopping location during the day and we all enjoyed eating lunch out doors on a patio over looking the water with live music in the back ground. On Wednesday night, my Aunt Pat joined us for dinner. Dad made his authentic Italian Spaghetti which was delicious. With Dad being retired and Polly still working as a CPA, he often does a lot of cooking and is quite good at it! Thursday was Thanksgiving and as is our tradition at both our home and my Dad's, the turkey was BBQ'ed. This year my Dad used a rotisserie in his Weber grill over in direct heat and the 18 pound bird was done in 3 hours. Polly and I worked together well on the side dishes. She made stuffing with apples and sausage, sweet potato casserole with a streusal topping and green beans with pecans. I made twice baked potatoes with bacon, cheese and chives and the gravy. We enjoyed a casual and relaxed day and ate around 3. Polly's son Clay joined us. Friday, Kate and I drove to a nearby town for a little "Black Friday" shopping. I took her to a popular clothing store for teens/young ladies and bought her a dress and dressy outfit for upcoming Sorority Christmas events. Additionally she tried on a ton of clothes, handed me the pile and went out to the car. I then picked out a few things and proceeded to do my Christmas shopping for her on the spot. This way I know I have bought things that FIT and that she likes. I will wrap up the clothes and they will go under our tree for Christmas! After shopping, we met my cousin (Kyle's Godmother) Susan for an early dinner at a popular pizza and salad restaurant. It was so good to see her and spend time visiting and catching up. After, Kate and I went to see New Moon. It was her 3rd time to see the film and my 2nd time respectively. We are proud "Twihards" and loved the books and the movies alike. It was so great to see the long awaited movie with her! Saturday we went back to the same nearby town, this time with Dad, Polly and the guys and met up with Polly's sons Clay and Zac for lunch. After wards, we spent a few hours shopping some more and then all went to see "The Blind Side" which we all loved. We topped off the day back at Dads for Turkey left overs for dinner. We all got up early this a.m. and were on the road by 7:30. Kate went her way and we went ours for the long drives home. It was so wonderful to all get together and spend the holiday together and we look forward to Kate, Dad and Polly being at our house soon to celebrate Christmas! (her boys will be with their Dad) Here are a few snap shots from our time together.

Kate and Polly's son Clay

Dad, Polly, Kate and Kyle

A family reunited!

Polly puts the finishing touches on the Thanksgiving meal.

Dad carves the turkey.

A beautiful place setting.

The holiday table.

Sweet Nineteen

It was SO WONDERFUL to see Kate again after being apart nearly 5 months. I cherished every moment of our time together and can't wait to see her again in less than a month at Christmas. Here are some shots I took of her out on Dad and Polly's back patio. I love that she has let her hair grow long again. I can hardly believe she is nineteen. Where does the time go?