All I Want For Christmas...

I wrote a while back about the unusual feeling of homesickness I had been having. I knew, more than anything, that the Lord is faithful-that he had something worked out for us.

Even though all signs pointed towards us not being able to visit family for the holidays, I ended up feeling a deep peace about how things would pan out. I had dreams that people I hadn't seen in ages were sending us home for Christmas and in all of those dreams I felt a deep, resounding feeling that the Lord was providing. That he had something unexpected in the works. 

And he did. 

It was amazing-the Christmas Elves (what the rest of my immediate family named themselves) pooled their resources and bought us tickets to come home for Christmas. John dug deep and found he would be able to take more time off than he had expected. It all came together. The girls and I flew in on the 17th and John will be joining us on the 23rd.  I honestly couldn't ask for more. We've only been here for three days, but spending time with my family has been wonderful. I never realized until I got out in the real world, how lucky I am to have a family I look forward to spending the holidays with.

Most people I know associate some level of dread with the high stress situations family gatherings tend to entail. Most people even have an Eddie in their family. But not me.  Our family prioritizes family-time spent together. Preferably accompanied by cake or cookies and tea. Our main priorities are what our next meal will be or which baked goods to make in between. Our schedule revolves around which home we will gather at or who we will meet up with to share time with.  We nap, read, talk, play games, arrange flowers, play with clay, watch movies and generally try to avoid Walmart. It is a blessed life and I feel blessed to be a part of it. Even more, I feel such great joy that my children are now a part of these traditions. That some day they will understand our family loves and enjoys each other every day of the year, not just to tolerate each other on Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I could care less about what's under the tree this Christmas. All I want for Christmas is my family. And if you're one of my five readers viewing this, that means you too.