It’s been a weird Holiday. I’m not going to lie. A COVID Christmas is not ideal. There was some added stress, but also some freedom. If there was a year that traditions fell through the cracks, 2020 is it.
I, of course, had intentions of doing lots of writing. I had blog posts planned. I even had some written, but due to technical issues, my Light Tour post has disappeared and soon so will the lights I was featuring. And did you notice there was no fourth Sunday of Advent post? It was half written in my head. And did you catch the Christmas house tour? No? Right, that’s because I never wrote or really photographed one…. but here’s our tree!
But I’m cutting myself a lot of slack over it. Giving myself some grace. We all deserve a little…or a lot…of extra grace this season. I did a great job of shopping for the girls. They loved their gifts. They were my main focus early on in the shopping game because if things got shut down again, I needed them to have gifts under the tree. Did I do a great job shopping for anyone else? Nope, not really. Cutting myself some slack over it. None of blog posts that I intended? Giving myself grace. Was the house decorated the way I intended? Nope. Grace. Did I mail a single card? No – giving some slack. Christmas baking? No – grace { and less pounds to lose later }
But you know what does matter? Singing Christmas carols loudly with the girls. Cooking my first Christmas dinner ever and pulling up some extra chairs around my tiny table. The look of awe as the girls opened gifts they didn’t expect. A muddy hike to a waterfall with zero notice. Sitting wrapped up in a snuggly blanket under the glow of Christmas lights. Visiting my friends to lend a hand with the chaos a new baby brings. Being ok enough to be alone on Christmas for a while and treating yourself to a solo trip to the beach.
Christmas 2020 will be one for the books. It will be memorable for lots of reasons. I hope that you have found some peace, joy and love this season, in the midst of the weirdness and chaos of life and a global pandemic. We still needed to celebrate the birth of the Saviour and that doesn’t need to happen in a church packed to the rafters. It can happen in the still of your home. It can happen listening to carols in the car. The baby Jesus wasn’t born in ideal circumstances either. So, give yourself a little room to grieve what you expected to happen and find ways to appreciate the season regardless. It may be Boxing Day, but it doesn’t mean that Christmas has to end.
Merry Belated Christmas from our home to yours.
Warmly,
Lori
