Is there a Christmas that stands out above all the rest? Maybe it was the year that your significant other popped the big question with a beautiful diamond ring. Maybe it was when your dad got you that cute little puppy. I'm sure there is one that sticks out in your mind even now. Do you want to know mine?
Although my first Christmas with my wife Chrissy was great, and of course our first Christmas with children was memorable, there is still one that stands above the rest. My best Christmas memory was my first Christmas with a mom.
My natural mother, Jean, having already given birth to seven children, was suddenly taken home to be with the Lord only hours after giving birth to me in July of 1971. My father was alone to raise the three infant boys that they shared (not to mention his previous 4 children and her previous 5 children).
Six years later, in November of 1977, my father married Peggy Riotto. I know that I got a ton of presents that year but I can't really remember any special one. What I do remember is that for the first time in my life I saw a woman sitting with my father by the tree as I walked down the stairs that Christmas morning. As I tore open present after present, I now had a mother to share Christmas with. We were a complete family.
Unfortunately, as the years go by we tend to take for granted the blessings of family. It becomes a chore to visit the in-laws. We go into debt in attempts to buy the perfect gift (or sometimes to keep up with the neighbors). We fill our schedules with events, concerts, and shopping.
Wouldn't it be great to go back in time to our favorite Christmas memory? What a joy it would be to walk down those steps of my house as a six year old boy again, and see the smiles on my young newlywed parents' faces. To experience my first Christmas with my new mom all over. Unfortunately we can't.
What I can do is make this Christmas memorable for my children. I want Jordan to remember this Christmas not for the BB gun I bought him (don't tell him), but for the fun we had sticking candy canes up our nose. I want Jonathan to remember our time laying on the floor building with legos. I want to hear Joshua laugh until he gives himself the hicups as we chase Maggie (our dog) around the house with the lazer light.
What are you doing to make this a Christmas to remember?
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