Simple Pleasures

We're enjoying this quiet time after Christmas. I love everything about Christmas. The anticipation, the carols, rereading the Christmas story in the gospels, the Christmas trees, unwrapping the ornaments and remembering events and people, sending and receiving Christmas cards, the baking (this year our 9 year old daughter baked some bars and some cookies all by herself--she had a ball!), the Christmas Eve service, seeing the kids' reactions on Christmas morning when they see all the presents under the tree (it always surprises me with how bountiful it looks), the Christmas dinner, seeing family and friends, talking to far-away family on Christmas, driving around and looking at lights on houses...and on and on.

But I also like this time afterwards, when things are quieter. The magic of the sacred side of Christmas lingers. The hustle and bustle of the secular side of Christmas is diminishing and we're enjoying the fruits of our labors. The trees sparkle, the cards have been mailed out and we read of others' lives, the gifts have been wrapped and given, delight has been seen in our children's eyes, the big Christmas Day dinner has been prepared, and its leftovers enjoyed. We continue to listen to wonderful Christmas music, and move the Wise Men closer to the manger scene in our three creches.


Yesterday afternoon I took the kids over to a lake that's about a 15 minute walk from our house. Our daughter fed the ducks and our son tried fishing for a few minutes. We saw a beautiful new duck we've never before seen in Colorado. But the most amazing thing was the ice on the lake. The edges of the lake are frozen and there are millions of tiny chunks of ice along the line where the water meets the ice. The afternoon sun shone on these bits of ice and made the perimeter of the lake look like fine crystal. As the water lapped against the ice, there was a delicate sound like distant gentle windchimes tinkling. It was most unusual. Very pretty to look at and oh, so beautiful to listen to. Only God can continue to amaze and show such beauty and wonder in simple things such as this. Obviously not as important as the One Gift He gave us on the first Christmas, but another beautiful gift to enjoy nonetheless. One of the simple pleasures of living in a cold climate at Christmastime.