Merry Christmas

It's a bright, sunshiney Christmas Eve, though the outside temp is only 26. That's twice as warm as it got all day yesterday, and we had an overnight low of -5. It still feels pretty chilly out there.

It's been a very quiet Christmas Eve for hubby and me. We're both fine with that. I can think of a lot of Christmas Eves as the kids were growing up that weren't quiet. Often we were busy cooking, preparing a special supper or getting things ready for our Christmas Day meal.

Many years we had Christmas Eve services to attend. That was always hectic with kids – especially in places that opted to have Christmas Eve services at midnight. That was not my idea of fun! Midnight always has been far past my bedtime.

Some years were challenging for Santa, trying to time his visit. Son never wanted to go to bed, while his two sisters were both early risers. Sometimes Santa's window of opportunity was very, very narrow!

As I was going through photos last month, I found several Christmas morning photos I'd forgotten about over the years. They brought back so many memories. There was one year in Oregon, before the last one was born, that the women's organization in the church made my kids the recipients of their Santa project. The kids were amazed – and so was I – at all the clothes and toys they got as a result of that generosity. One lady who did knitting used up some of her scrap yarn and made both kids sweaters – with the pouch on the front for their hands, attached hoods, and their names on the pouches. Older daughter's was done in shades of brown, son's was done in shades of blue.

At Christmas 1983, central Iowa was covered with snow and in the middle of several days and nights of frigid, windy weather. A few nights before Christmas, the young adult group from the church went caroling – we found out quickly that we needed to pile back into the vehicles and warm up after every house......even if we did two houses next door to one another, we needed to warm up in between. It was a farm community, which meant a lot of large thermometers outside the back doors. Those thermometers that night read -20. Heaven only knows what the wind chill was.

Because of the snow, howling winds, and the dangerous temperatures, Christmas Eve services were canceled that year. The kids were in their jammies, watching TV. A single friend from Oregon (who worked nearby and had no family in Iowa) was staying with us for the holidays. The wind sounded horrible outside and could be heard above the TV. Then I started hearing another sound – I swore I could hear sleigh bells. I thought I'd gone over the edge and lost my mind.

There was a knock on our front door, and the kids' eyes got very wide when we opened the door and in walked Santa – and yes, he was ringing sleigh bells. Santa gave each of the kids a candy cane and an orange, asked them if they were about ready to go to bed and if they had been good. I'm not sure any of the three did any more than nod back. Actually, I was pretty speechless myself.

I've never forgotten that generous man who stopped by our house on that nasty Christmas Eve, on his way to play Santa for his grandchildren down the road. I'm not sure if the older two kids remember that special visit from Santa or not.......the youngest one wasn't quite two yet. But I remember. And for 30 years I've been very thankful for that special guy who took his time to make a special memory for my kids.

I wish all of you a special and Merry Christmas!