Sunday, December 19, 2010

I'll be home for Christmas, (if only in my dreams...)

When I was in Paris my room consisted of dos primos de Espana, un Braziliane hombre, a Romanian girl from Edinborough, and an Australian field hockey player.  We decided to have "family dinner" and share salad, sandwhiches, cheese, and beer in the hostel kitchen.  Suddenly, the discussion turned to some of us not returning home for Christmas, and doing so voluntarily.

"Why would you EVER consider that?!" I willingly poked my nose in.  Spending Christmas away from your home and family is like having pancakes without maple syrup; bland and sad.  I was given answers such as my thinking reflected my being immature, I needed to understand that Christmas is just a day and it shouldn't matter when you spend time with your family, or presents don't mean you love someone, or that to need to see your family and not be able to stay away makes you a child... in more or less words.

I get it, I get that when you grow up you should be able to be away from home for a lengthly amount of time, and this shouldn't mean that you don't love your family if you can't physically make it home to see them or don't have the time.
BUT (and at first I thought this was an American mentality, or just my family's mentality) Christmas isn't a day that you give gifts and chill for no reason.  Christmas is a day you specifically set aside apart from all days to show your joy and appreciation for each other.  And it's not like you can't do that any day, but you do it this day because tradition brings you together as a family.  I was brought up to know that a holiday is above other days and work, or other worldly interferences should always come last on these days because family should be your number one priority.  I never questioned it, and I don't think I ever could.  

Today was supposed to be my return flight.  It was cancelled, and I have my dad's travel agent working on trying to make sure I can make it home before Christmas, and the sooner the better.  I don't have a problem with trying everything I possibly could to see my family.  The number one reason is because I have a HUGE family compared to some people, and for all of us to agree to set aside at least one day a year (or maybe Thanksgiving as well which I missed out on) is a miracle that shows our love for one another.
Forget presents, it doesn't matter what you get, it just matters that you love someone enough to show them you care and you were thinking of them enough to want to make them happy.  So you give them a gift, you see them smile, you tell them you love them, and God is there with you in this the whole time.  Your family loves you and wants you to grow, but they won't be there forever.  Memories are all we have at the end of the day, and holidays are number one in those memories.

My personal reasoning behind gift giving and family time is to celebrate God's love for us when He gave His only Son, by showing our love for each other.  It's an obligation to be home for this holiday not because I have to, but because it's an unquestionable and voluntary obligation to the most important people I will ever have in my life.  Friends are included with this too, since some of my longest and closest friends live right down the street.  

So on this day I ASK OF ALL YOU WHO READ THIS, to pray that God can get me home from England in time to celebrate Christmas with my family, even if you don't believe in anything, just send a positive thought.  Tis the season of love, joy, family, friends, generosity, and new beginnings.

"God Bless us, everyone." - Tiny Tim.

1 comment:

  1. I will pray like crazy you get home before next saturday

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