A Love Letter to Christmas

Merry Christmas Divas! Man, I prayed all fall and December for words or meaning or a theme from God to share with you all here on Devotional Diva. I always do something special on Devotional Diva for Christmas, because it’s my favorite holiday, of course.

But nothing came. No guidance, no whispers, no inspiration, no creativity.

Not until today, in my shower of all places. And now I’m proud to say I wrote this special little diddy just in the NICK of time. (No pun intended Saint Nick.)

When I was a kid, we always spent Christmas Eve at my grandmother‘s house. It was magical. My grandmother was and is so very special to me. We had a special meal of sloppy Joe’s and beans — not very typical Christmas food, I know! The recipe was passed down from my grandma’s mother and we continue to make it. It is seriously the best Sloppy Joe you’ll ever eat. Anyways, Christmas as a child for me was always wonderful and magical and though it wasn’t a great big family gathering, I loved the company of my grandmother and uncle’s family.

My mom and my uncle always had a strained relationship, so after my grandmother died, we no longer got together on Christmas Eve. It was just myself, my mom and dad and my little brother. That first Christmas with just our little family was SO. HARD. Grandma WAS Christmas to me. It was a very rough transition after her death, and our grief was strong for the first couple Christmases.

Our little family adjusted well eventually, and we created new little traditions—like going to Walgreens and getting my mom Toblerone candy and then having lunch with just myself, my dad, and my brother.

I grew to love our cozy little Christmases (I love the Katy Perry song “cozy little Christmas”) just as much as our bigger family celebrations. I know grandma’s still with us every Christmas. And now, as a military family, we aren’t physically close to family.

I don’t like to travel during the holiday season. Honestly, I’m done with that, we tried it, and it’s just not worth it. It’s so stressful. I love Christmas with the little family that I built myself.

So as I find myself putting on make up for a familiar Christmas Eve trip to Walgreens to fill a stocking for my husband, I am thinking about whether or not my children will or will ever want to experience a Christmas with more relatives or friends. I know I could make this possible for them at some point, but I’d like to think that they will always love our little Christmases here at home.

And that brought me to more interesting thoughts and a small message today— whatever kind of Christmas you’re celebrating this season, I hope that you are doing what feels good for you inside your heart. It’s OK to not do all the things on Christmas. It’s OK if your presents aren’t wrapped neatly. It’s OK if your baseboards are dirty. it’s OK to be late to family gatherings and its OK to leave early for family gatherings.

You know your little family, the little group of people that God gifted you, whatever size it is or how you came to know them (because friends can indeed become family). Do what’s best for your little family. Just enjoy.

If you are alone…take the day to DO YOU. CELEBRATE the messiah’s arrival and his message of love by loving yourself.

I love you. Merry Christmas.