Christmas Memories: Past, Present and Future

As I think back over our many Christmases with our family in Japan, I realize I put a lot of time and energy into making sure it didn't feel sad and lonely.  Of course we were busy with church outreaches and giving gifts to neighbors and our kids were a part of that. But once the ministry commitments died down and we found ourselves at home for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we sometimes had to ward off feeling lonely and missing out.  Even though our kids wouldn't have foil-covered chocolate Santas in their stockings and grandparents wouldn't be over for turkey dinner, we still wanted there to be good memories of special times together.  

More and more of Western-Christmas-commercialism is visible in Japan, but in years past it often felt like it was only Christmas in our home. So I decked our halls, big-time. I'd try to make every nostalgic Christmas cookie possible. And Kenny G would be playing in the back ground with candles lit in the center of our red table cloth; whatever it took to feel cozy and special and to not miss, at least too much, an American Christmas and our American family. We tried to create a place where memories were shared and the best gifts, weren't expensive presents under the tree, but the gift of the 5 of us as family. And that was something we celebrated, not just at Christmas, but all year long. 

I was so surprised to find Advent calendar bags at the ¥100 store and painted numbers on them with a stencil. For the cost of only a few dollars, Tim and I could have a fun daily treat along with our Advent devotional reading.  You are never too old for Advent chocolates! And especially now with the kids gone, and it is just the 2 of us, we'll continue to celebrate Christmas in big and little ways with many more special memories left to make.