Simple, Uncomplicated Loving Traditions

Thanksgiving is behind us and we're officially in Christmas Mode in our house.  I keep all our Christmas decorations in two large Rubbermaid® storage boxes.  I got them down a week ago so we could get started celebrating Christmas.

Aaron, Melanie and Morgan were in town over the Thanksgiving weekend and stayed with us at night.  On Saturday I got the lights out and said, "Morgan, let's go outside."  So he helped me put the Christmas lights up, at least as much as a 3 year old can help.  We had a number of things going on that day so I felt pretty good getting that much of our Christmas started.  (And I felt very good having spent some fun time with my grandson.)

Wednesday night I had interviews at the church.  As I left Jana commented, "We're putting up the Christmas decorations tonight."

Jana and I are not really decorative people.  Our home is simple, functional and, for us, comfortable.  A couple years ago the wife of a friend of mine commented, just in passing, "You being an artist, I'll bet your home is decorated beautifully."  (Needless to say, I've never invited she and her husband over.)

Our simple style extends to our Christmas decorations as well.  We have many traditional decorations we've collected over the years, many homemade, that we love to put up.  They bring warm memories.  Like the canning jar lids with simple Christmas bell shapes punched out with a hammer and nail hung on a piece of red ribbon and made by Aaron when he was in kindergarten.  Or the nativity set my sister made for us out of clay one year when she couldn't afford to buy gifts.  (The clay she used wasn't fired, rather just left to dry and harden.  The characters, cute as they are, are very brittle.  We have hot-glued legs, arms and donkey ears many times over the years but still gingerly bring them out again each year as part of our Christmas decoration traditions.  My sister died three years ago and the meaning of her nativity set is even more dear now.)

Even so, our simple, family decorations are precious to us.

I haven't been home many evenings for the past couple weeks so Jana decided Wednesday evening would be a good night to set things up. When I got home at about 10:00 our house had magically turned into Christmas.  I looked around and saw the familiar decorations, each with their story, and it felt like home, like Christmas, like love.

I love the simple, uncomplicated joys that Jana finds in our life.  She is just the right match for me.  Her decorating Christmas with Arielle, and turning our home into a warm, loving, peaceful and happy place, not just during Christmas but every day, is a wonderous thing ... a loving thing.

So I'll glue the leg one more time back on the clay camel and stretch another holiday season out of my sister's precious nativity set.  And I'll be truly and simply happy.

P.S.  Can you find the 8 nativity sets on our mantle?

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