Packing Up Christmas

The branches are drooping and the peppermint bark tin is empty. A few gifts, minus their wrapping paper, remain beneath the tree still waiting to be returned to the mall. The Christmas music that so merrily played from my stereo a week ago now seems oddly out of place. It's time to pack Christmas into boxes and return it to the basement.

For many the week after Christmas is one of the most depressing of the year. The preparation and anticipation that occupied so much of our time the past weeks or months has now ended. The parties are over and relatives have returned to their own homes.

Many breathe a great sigh of relief that "the most wonderful time of the year" has passed. The death of a loved one, a broken marriage or unemployment can make this time of year unbearable. How can the whole world celebrate when you are in such pain? How can you rejoice when departed loved ones no longer sit at your family table?

To make matters worse, northeast Ohio is facing the cold, gray marathon that is winter. The picturesque snowflakes so adored on Christmas Eve are now unwelcome. Although the days are technically growing longer, lack of sun and an oppressive sky compound feelings of sadness. 

But a new year looms ahead, and with it new possibilities.

Next Wednesday, when the children of Northampton Christian Preschool return from break, they'll do so knowing there are unlimited possibilities contained in a cold, ugly January day. Their chubby, booted feet will plod down the hall and happily greet everyone in their wake. They will peer excitedly into the sensory table and spend the morning digging, pouring and sifting its contents. They'll quickly grab those old blocks from the shelf and begin building new castles, bridges and zoos with their buddies. Little hands will relish squishing a ball of playdough and artfully molding it into something new. Our youngsters will sing and dance and experiment and play. In the process they will learn to love the world around them. A few snowflakes falling outside the window will elicit cheers from the class. The arrival of the trash hauler to empty the dumpster will be cause for celebration.  Oh, to find so much joy in a simple, mundane day!

Christmas will be a distant memory for these precious ones.  But it won't matter, for these sweet babes know in their hearts something adults too often forget; life itself is a gift from God just waiting to be seized!

May 2012 bring you new possibilities and great joy.