How We Will Be Spending December, Thanks to Missey

I've been doing some reflecting lately, and my thoughts have continuously turned to Missey Gray, just as they have for the past two Christmases.

2006 was a hard year for our close-knit Five In A Row family. We lost two young mothers that year, Missey in March and Lorrie on Thanksgiving Day.

Neither of these women knew that 2006 would be their last Christmas with their children and husband. But it was. I've been thinking, what if this was MY last Christmas? What things would I do differently than every other year in the past? Would I rush around and overbook our family until the holidays had passed us right by or would I keep us home just as much as possible and savor every moment of every day with my children? Would I continue to stay behind on my housework because I was too lazy to get up in the mornings before my children got up or would I make sure it was done and stayed done so we could spend our days cuddling under a blanket reading, or maybe watching a good Christmas movie and baking cookies and drinking hot chocolate?

Thank goodness Missey also had this revelation that final Christmas season. Listen to a little bit of her wisdom...

"For now, I'm enjoying making memories with my family and letting all the worries and stresses roll right off my back. They'll be there for another day. But for today I'm going to get my Love Bank filled back up with kisses and hugs and quiet conversations (while making those same kinds of deposits into each of my loved one's Love Banks) and regain the strength to face all those worries and stresses that will still be waiting for me come January. I think that by then they won't seem so big anymore anyway."

(Read the rest of what she had to say here). How thankful I am that her children now have those wonderful memories of their mommy and their time with her during their last Christmas together.

In honor and memory of Missey and Lorrie, I hereby declare that in our home the whole month of December will be spent making wonderful, warm memories with my family and taking the time to do what THEY want. We'll sing and dance and laugh, we'll play board games and barbies and cars. We'll do each other's make-up and hair and we'll get down on the floor and wrestle. We'll put puzzles together and color together and write letters to Santa together... yep, even mom!

We'll bake cookies for our neighbors and deliver them. We'll make and decorate a gingerbread house and then eat it! We'll cuddle under warm blankets and read lots and lots of good books. We'll make homemade hot chocolate and sip it while we read Jotham's Journey: A Storybook for Advent.

We'll drive around and look at all the Christmas lights. We'll go see the live nativity and the Orchestra and Choir's annual Christmas presentation while wearing our Santa hats and trying to get the TV cameras to turn to us! We'll shop and giggle at secrets and wrap presents for our loved ones.

We'll pray and read all about Jesus's birth and we'll bake Him a birthday cake. We'll take lots of pictures and perform in our church's annual Christmas play. We'll pray and love and laugh and make the most wonderful memories all while savoring each and every day.

Hmmm... maybe we should do this every day.