Living Letters

Well, how was your Christmas? I hope it was splendid! Ours was nice, however my little guys were sick, so some of our plans were put aside. We did get to go to Nathan's family get together on friday before they got sick and my family was over on Christmas day. Nathan's "Maw-Maw" and my "Grandma" both passed away this year, so our Christmas was missing a couple of very special ladies.



Most years, Nathan's family gathers at his grandparents home. The tree is up and lit and on nearly every branch hangs a memory (Nathan points out special ornaments and shares with me and the children the memories tied to those ornaments-it is a beautiful peak into his childhood and a glimpse at all the things that make his family so special). Christmas whatnots and dodads are sprinkled across every shelf and table top. On the kitchen counters sit dish upon dish of yummy Christmas goodies. Presents lay scattered across the floor. The television is on in the background. Children play on the floor. The men stand out on the front porch, they talk and smoke and have a friendly debate over most anything. The ladies gather at the table and talk about grandbabies and favorite recipes. Paw-Paw tells a joke and then laughs at it himself..his laughter fills the room and it is contagious. Maw-Maw sits in her chair, she holds the little ones for as long as they will sit still and speaks in a voice much louder than needed because she can't hear very well. A blessing is said and food is eaten. Then someone passes out the gifts. When all the gifts are handed out everyone unwraps their pile of presents, stopping to watch someone unwrap the one you brought or to ask what they got. Paper is strung everywhere, thank yous are exchanged and hugs given out. It's Christmas at the Chaffin's.



This year, things were done very differently. I think perhaps everyone needed the change. We gathered at a resturant, enjoyed a nice meal (that no one had to prepare, and better yet, no one had to clean up). We laughed at the little ones and caught up on how everyone was doing. We thanked the kind waitress, who made our evening quite enjoyable. Then we headed out to gather once again at a building were Nathan's uncle holds church services. We played a gift exchange game and laughed with one another. It was fun. It was different. My eyes kept being drawn to the empty chair next to Paw-Paw during supper. I kept wishing someone would have sat there, perhaps an empty chair anywhere else at the table would not have felt so lonely. Paw-paw laughed at his own jokes, but not as loudly as years past. Change everything and one thing remains...she was missed.



Christmas with my family is nuts! My sisters and I have 16 children between the 3 of us (next year there will be 18)! My mom is one of 6 children, who all have children, who have children. Many of which come from all around for Christmas. It is really LOUD! There is lots of laughter and bound to be some tears. We make sure the Christmas parade is on the television for the little ones to watch, but no one does. The tree is lit; ofcourse there are NO ornaments on the bottom half. We try to be organized in the handing out of gifts, but we don't succeed. Dinner is yummy...especially the desserts! Grandma loves the laughter, she loves having a house full of children. She wants to know what everyone got and whether they are happy. She treasures the card from Uncle Mike far more than the gift, always making sure everyone reads it (because, she always said, "He always puts so much thought into picking out a card that says just the right thing"). She bosses us all around from her chair :) .



This year we gathered at her home, like we always do. It was loud...and messy...and fun! The home was fill to the brim with people, mostly children. There was laughter and a few tears. Yummy food and lots of gifts. Things were the same as always, except that everything was different. Grandma was not there. Uncle Mike did not bring a card. There was no one there bossing us all around...she was missed.



Two loving families, two wonderful ladies. Whether we completely changed our traditions this Christmas or kept as much the same as possible, one thing remained for everyone-we missed those ladies. They were both such a big part of our Christmas. They left their fingerprints behind. On our hearts, in our lives. We see them in the little things (like the way the oranges that sit on the table remind me of Grandma, who always said the smell of oranges made her think of Christmas...it didn't feel like Christmas, even with the decorations up, until the oranges were on the table). We notice their absence in the quiet moments, when our heads are bowed and our hearts focused. We see them in each other. And in them, we saw Him.



There is a verse, 2 Corinthians 3:3, it says "You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts."  It is quite a beautiful way to veiw our lives. Letters written from God to the people around us. Ohhh the letters He wrote to us over the years with the lives of those wonderful women. He wrote to us letters of love, of giving, of selflessness, of grace, of kindness. He filled the pages with laughter and wonderful examples of how we are to live. Our memories of moments with them are lines from those letters, the kind of lines you underline and highlight, because they carry an important message.



May our children and grandchildren and, if we are as blessed as those gone on before us, our great grandchildren look back at our lives and read letters much like those written to us.  A love letter, because God IS Love. "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them." [1 John 4:16].