And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. Luke 2:3-4

Devotional

I have been a bit weepy as I have listened to Christmas songs and wrapped gifts this season. I just feel a bit off. Anyone else?

This will be the second Christmas without my mother and my father. Perhaps last year, I was a bit numb to my feelings, but this year I feel them. Our family will no longer travel from our different cities to the town where my sisters and I were born. We will no longer make a complete mess of the den in the unwrapping of all the gifts or sit around the dining room table for a meal and conversation again. The thoughts of it all cause tears to well up and overflow.

Instead of just lingering in my pity party, I decided to rally my young adult children along with my young adult nieces and nephews for an early Christmas gathering. It was a feat to schedule 10 calendars, but we did it. My niece hosted us for an amazing lunch, and I gave a gift of a photo of the family’s dairy farm to each of them – a reminder of the our family line and house where we all originated.

As we were cleaning up the lunch dishes, I looked up in the kitchen window and saw a quote in a frame written in my mother’s handwriting. It was a paraphrased quote from Charles Dickens, “When I speak of home, I speak of the place where those I love are gathered; and if that place be a tent, I should call it by the same good name notwithstanding.”

It felt like my mother was reminding me that home is not a place, but a people who love one another who gather together wherever they are.

For Reflection

What are your emotions - the highs and lows - of this Christmas season?

Who could you share a meal with this season – family or friends?

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for meeting me in my pity party. Thank you for the love of family that can continue to  flow through the generations, and thank you for the gift of gathering together. May we never take that for granted again. AMEN