Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone!  Don't you just love that perfect pear?  A friend of mine stitched it for me as an exchange this past spring at our annual St. Michaels weekend.  I was the lucky recipient of this beautiful ornament, that is sitting in my tree.

Yes, I'm one of those folks who love Christmas.  I shop all year round looking for the perfect gifts.  My Dad was always the hardest one to buy for...and the most fun to search for...and I very nearly managed to get something he loved every year!  He would always say, "You find the neatest things...where on earth did you find this?"  I truly miss him but especially at Christmas.  See my Dad used to dress up as Santa.  He would show up on Christmas Eve at the houses of friends with little kids and they would mysteriously catch him placing gifts under their trees.  We caught him one year....the best Christmas of my life!  My sister wouldn't leave her bed to go see him, I guess she was afraid she wouldn't get what she wished for...but that didn't matter to me, I wanted to give Santa a hug....he was always good to me every year!  We didn't even notice that Dad was missing...hahaha.

I like to stitch for Christmas, decorating the house is one of my favorite things I look forward to every year.  As we get older, though, it's been a bit harder to get my act together.  This year went together the smoothest of all.  All the decorations are out, the gift buying/wrapping was done earlier this year, and I've had time to really reflect on the true reason of the season.  So I'm thankful.....for my family, for my friends, for the life I lead which at times can be difficult to navigate but when you look at it in it's entirety, it's been a pretty good life!  But what I'm most thankful for is the Love our God has showered on us by sacrificing his one and only Son.  He came to earth to bear the sins of the world, to die on the cross as our sacrificial Lamb to atone for all our sins.  What perfect, amazing, unselfish love!!  I pray that as life goes along, I will mirror that perfect love....it's not perfect yet, I'm still working on it, but hopefully moving in the right direction.  May the Love of Christmas fill your hearts today, and all the year through!  Merry Christmas!