Any day of the year

Celebrating Christmas in October seemed like a lot of work.

But when I logged on to my homepage yesterday morning, the day of our celebration, the daily Bible verse affirmed the good in our early celebration.

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)

Yesterday was Christmas.

Compiling wish lists, gathering (and wrapping) presents, preparing holiday food, setting up the Christmas tree, coordinating clothes for family pictures, and even disrupting normal napping schedules. All those preparations that typically run me ragged in mid-December didn't seem so bad in mid-October.

It was just enough.

Stores didn't tempt me at every turn with extra discounts if I just bought one extra fleece blanket for $15.

I didn't feel sick to my stomach after hearing about the proverbial roasting chestnuts for the bazillionth time.

My wrapping took less than half a day.

And when I left mom and dad's house with a stomach stuffed to overflowing, I felt a little better knowing it was from just one evening of indulgence rather than an entire month of overeating.

Maybe best of all it was a family gathering we hadn't had for a very long time.

We've celebrated Christmas as a family at my parents home in Ethiopia a couple of times in the years they've been missionaries there, but never with our traditional potato soup made with all the American ingredients or a fire blazing in the fireplace.

Yes our celebration was out of the ordinary. I spent my days in Christmas preparation mode when friends picked out fall pumpkins.

Asher is now completely confused about when Christmas actually is.
But the memories we created made the celebration worth it!

And we've been reminded we can sing Happy Birthday to Jesus any day of the year.

Even today He is Emmanuel, God with us.