This Christmas is to be one of several "firsts" for our family.
It will be the first time that The Most Charming Grandsons#2 and #3 have joined our family for Christmas Day. The Most Charming Grandson#2 timed his arrival quite nicely in that he will be six months old and ready for solids on Christmas Day! (Gotta love a boy who loves his kai!)
I suspect it is the first time that our Christmas tree has been decorated the first weekend in December ... and if not a first, the first in a very long time that it has happened.
It is also the first time that DH and I have made Christmas Pudding with just three grandchildren present. This is because with family scattered, babies arriving, Son#3 flying off to Canada to work, birthdays that had to be celebrated (although COVID managed to mess that up, too), we couldn't come up with a time whereby everyone could gather for this rather important event. One granddaughter has suggested that we meet in the middle of the year to do it, and I think she has a point.
Since we couldn't possibly not have Christmas Pudding, last Saturday DH and I, along with The Most Adorable Granddaughters#1, #2 and #3 made Christmas Pudding at our house.
Even with just a small group, there was the usual nonsense ...
and taste testing (seems it's not just the young ones who do this - they just tend to be the ones who get caught with their fingers in the pudding).
Others in the family found other ways to be involved. On Sunday, Son#2 made Christmas Pudding with The Most Adorable Granddaughters#6 and #7, while #4 and #5 played the part of the obligatory non-participants (usually taken by Son#1).
The puddings look quite different, so it will be interesting to see which tastes the best on Christmas Day.
I've tried to convince DH he should make one with The Most Adorable Granddaughter#8 but Son#5 tells me that Americans don't eat Christmas Pudding. Which brings me to the next and last "first". This year will also be the first time that DH and I will not be spending Christmas together in thirty-nine years.
And I'm okay with that.
Instead, DH will be spending Christmas with Son#5 and his family in Texas. Ten days ago, I wrote that we were not giving up on praying for Son#5 to receive either a Green Card or Travel Stamp. Then we had no idea of what was about to unfold, but God did. I'm convinced He was preparing us for this even before we knew it.
I have been constantly encouraged by how often sermons, daily Bible readings or devotions speak directly to our situation and what we are currently going through. We had focused on the temporal pleasure - the happiness of having all the family together - but it seems that God had a deeper plan and purpose - to make us into the image of His Son - and I believe that is what He is doing in our family and our lives through this situation. As hard as it is, I know He can bring beauty from ashes.
Several months ago, I could not have imagined DH not being here for Christmas or me accepting it so calmly. Back then I was excitedly looking forward to Son#5 and his family coming for Christmas and would have been bitterly disappointed had I known we would not see them after all. And yet I feel that with DH being beside Son#5 and his family this year, that even though we are on different sides of the world, that in some inexplicable way we are all together. Perhaps it's because, as the Bible says, DH and I have become one, that somehow we feel that we are sharing in this together and joining the family together. I know when DH sends photos or videos of the fun he's having with The Most Adorable Granddaughter#8, that I feel as if I'm having that fun and connecting with her also. I certainly feel that she responds through the lens of the camera more so now than she has in the past. When DH holds her and kisses her, I can almost feel her baby softness at the same time.
And so it is, I think, with Christmas this year. As DH celebrates with Son#5 and family, I think I will feel that I'm celebrating with them too. Hopefully, they will all feel the same when they see the rest of us gathered together and celebrating. And, hopefully, they will all feel the love that is being extended across the miles. And the prayers that are being offered on their behalf.
So even though this is a first I didn't expect or ask for, there is something about it that feels right. And perhaps in the not too distant future we will have another first: that of meeting The Most Adorable Granddaughter#8 for the first time, and since DH has already had his share of cuddles and fun with her, perhaps he won't mind stepping aside and letting us have our turn.
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