A Construction Paper Christmas

This Christmas season my mind has been taking me back to Christmas of 2000. Our family was in a time of transition. The six of us had moved from Maine to Costa Rica just 12 days before Christmas. So we were in a foreign country and we didn't know a lick of Spanish. We were 3000 miles away from our friends and family. We didn't even have Christmas decorations.

Despite all those things, this is my favorite Christmas as a family. I remember such a sense of family closeness and love. We worked together and made a construction paper chain that spanned all around our apartment. Someone else also made a construction paper Christmas tree and taped it to the wall. For our presents, Mom and Dad asked us each for one thing that we wanted. Christmas morning Mom and Dad asked us to grab the blankets off of our bed so they could 'wrap' our presents. Kevin got a basketball, I got a skateboard, Amanda got a soccer ball, and Karen got a nice lamp for her room.

I love this Christmas memory because it is so simple. We didn't have much. To be truthful, we didn't need much. We had each other and, most importantly, we had the Savior of the World to focus on. Its the simple things that are often the most special for us isn't it?

Ponder this simple truth on the Eve of this Christmas: God loved us and sent His Son.

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." -John 1:14