The challenge for today was to tell what Christmas means to me.
Christmas is one of my two favorite times of the year (the first being Thanksgiving). Christmas has always been about family to me.
Growing up, we used to always travel for Christmas to the mountains of North Carolina, where my grandparents lived, and spend time with the whole extended family there.
This together-time meant presents, yes, but more than that, it meant big meals around the extended table, playing with cousins, doing puzzles with aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and our immediate family.
It always means long phone calls with the family that can't make it to the gathering, and walks in the cold with the ones who needed a chance to digest before the next round of dessert.
But my favorite part of all has always been the time when we sit down together as a family and listen as the Christmas story is read aloud, as a reminder that there is a greater reason for our celebration than just the presents or family time...that we have been given a gift, one that affects our whole lives, and THAT is what we celebrate at Christmas time.
Go enjoy more bloggy Christmas carnival fun with us at Wives of Faith.
Nice post! I absolutely love going to visit family. It just completes the holiday sometimes.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful tradition of spending time with your family every year. I love when large, extended family can get together for "bonding" time!
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