SHINE (Christmas Visions Part 4)
Seventy-five degrees is not your typical December weather around here. We were not about to let this rare day pass without soaking up the warmth.
I have to laugh at what a sight we must have been throughout the day.
After picking up my middle child in the morning (without a shower, make up, or real clothes), I ran a few errands before dropping the same child off at her next play date.
At home, I joined my son and youngest child to hang out with our neighbors in the cul-de-sac. I was in yoga pants and a workout shirt, my son was wearing beat up athletic pants with his old play shoes, and my daughter was wearing a dirty shirt and her hair was a wild tangled flowing mess. Our neighbors were equally decked out in a mix of pajamas and casual day wear. The dad (barefoot) and some of the kids played football while the wife and I talked and corralled toddlers… as if this was perfectly normal for mid morning on a Saturday.
Later in the day, I sat (dripping sweat from my run with the same neighbor) with my youngest on the porch swing. She was carrying a walking stick and several small stuffed animals and wearing cowboy boots and a red cape. On top of this, she still had not brushed her hair and now had ketchup on her cheek.
It was the best Saturday. It was a rare day with nothing on the schedule other than dropping off and picking up our middle child from her various social engagements.
Instead of our normal use of free Saturdays- a mad attempt to clean the house spotless, we let ourselves embrace a little mess in order to soak up the sunshine.
Like my Christmas star decoration, we were messy and beautiful. We shared life together without attempting to create perfection and order. We allowed the strands and clumps to come together to form something warm and sparkling.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of a spotless house with bleach scented bathrooms. I also like wearing real clothes and make up on a daily basis. Somehow, though, the sun shining when it normally wouldn’t made all those things seem insignificant. All that mattered was gathering all of us together to bask in the warmth of the day.
Although it was not your typical advent season weather, there was definitely a gift in it. It was a reminder of how, long ago, a star appeared where there was normally no light to welcome beauty in the center of a mess.
What a strange sight it must have been: a young mother, a step father of sorts, and a baby in the middle of hay and animals. It was not order and cleanliness. It was far from a picture of perfection. It was, though, a gift of a light sent to draw us together.
May your Christmas be full of shiny moments that draw you ever closer to the greatest gift and to one another.
