Usually we head over the mountain and through the woods to my Moms house earlier, on Christmas Eve afternoon.
This year, the plan was to hit the 5:00 service at Church, then go to my mothers for dinner, presents and to celebrate all that transpired over 2000 years ago...
I've shared a couple times here about my mothers failing health. She has a constant and worsening struggle with fairly advanced COPD...
It's been difficult watching probably the strongest woman and most " can do" person I've ever met, reduced physically to needing a breathing treatment between the trip from her kitchen chair to the couch in her adjoining living room..
I'm still struggling with staying " philosophicle" about that...
But this woman absolutely adores her grand kids.
Belay that...
She has a love for them that is bigger than I've seen in her life for anything or anyone else... Probably the closest second to that would be for my Wonderful Wife, who bore the three of them, for her...
I'm thinking that's exactly how my mom would probably put it...
So, this woman who can barely navigate her trailer on bad days, spent months cutting patterns and sewing her special handmade pajamas for all three of my bubbers...
She doesn't drive often because the trip to and from her vehicle is much longer than the one between kitchen and living room. Most of the time, her brother does her grocery shopping for her.
But... She braved that trip a couple times, oxygen tank and all, in the last months, along with a few Wal- Mart walk throughs, to find the presents to completely blow away any semblance of sanity, perspective or rationality about gift giving, for her grandchildren...
Now MaryAnne and i have been stressing minimizing gifts and presents on Jesus's birthday, lately...
Quite strongly, in fact. For years we had the children give grandma a SMALL list, after we edited it, after we instilled some semblance of balance and scale...
Not this year.
Nope...
I should have known...
To be truthful, I think I did...
We walked into baked lasagna, baked ham and all the fixings; sliced veggies, chips and assorted dips. Home made chocolate cake, ice cream and jello...
On her average days, lately, ordering a pizza had been a struggle....
Her Christmas tree was up, lights on and decorated. More packages than I've seen in one place in a lifetime, were piled throughout the living room.
As food was being plated, I began to say a prayer of thanks, for Jesus, for family, for love...
And she stopped me before five words were said.
My mother then raised her voice in praise of God and thanked Him for the strength He had given her, to have this day..
She praised God for the gift of family, for the love of family...
For the time granted with them...
I do not recall ever in the past, hearing my mom pray.
Shes not one to put her spiritual beliefs on her sleeve..
My jaw dropped, as did my Wonderful Wife's..
The kids just smiled, happily, awaiting dinner.
But the dad...this dad... A lump developed in my throat and a strange mixture of astonishment, thankfulness, blessing and fear overwhelmed me...
Since I was wearing dress shoes ( the only non-steel toe shoes i own), I was able to step on my own foot, while everyone else was distracted...
Hard enough to curtail all my emotional confusion with actual physical pain...
Short story long, it was an incredible night..
The children no longer ooo and ahh over Christmas lights.
None of them "believe" anymore about elves or cookies for Santa or reindeers... And I do miss the Santa cookies...
But between my mom and the God she glorified...
True Christmas magic happened..
I'm not one for over the top materialistic displays, but thankfully, that evening, I was able to see beyond apearances...
The grandeur in the trailer that night had nothing to do with the abundances of physical things, I realized.
This is probably the last time my mom will ever be able to do this, ever...
The COPD is progressing faster than I want to acknowledge.
I hope there are many more years left of Christmas's with grandma, but I am doubting she will ever be able to manage anything like she has, in those years coming...
I think that the strongest woman I know may have realized this herself...
Acknowledged it and asked her God for the opprotunity to create one last amazing Christmas...
As Jesus turned water into wine, He also put His hand into creating this...
Merry Christmas.
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