Wednesday, January 11, 2017

The Christmas Memories Meltdown

Christmas.  That magical time of the year that we all love to see come, yet hate to see go. This was our reality this past weekend. Little one is three and this was her second Christmas with us and this season was filled with every bit of the awe and wonder of a child. She was engaged in every. single. moment.


The lights-


The nativity & the story of Christmas-


 Decorating the tree-
The special treats that only come at Christmas-

Dressing up for parties-


Putting out cookies for Santa- (and a large one we might add because she said Santa was a big man so needed a big cookie)





Picking out presents for others- (these were some of her choices for daddy’s gift she wanted to give him)




The Ninja Turtle ice cream bowl won and found itself under the tree-



 Reading Christmas stories-




Opening presents-




… and then it happened. 

This past weekend came, things slowed down, and we finally took down the decorations, the tree, and in her mind Christmas was now officially over - and the Christmas meltdown came.

Tears.

…as the stockings were folded and tucked away for one more year…

Tears.

…as her almond shaped eyes watch every ornament start to disappear from off the tree…

She loved every ounce of Christmas like no one I’ve ever seen and there was this disappointment in her tear-filled eyes that all of the glitter, the sparkle, and magic of Christmas was now over. (and apparently taking down the decorations made it official) With tears streaming down her cheeks, she held onto us and our only condolence in the matter, was reminding her that we get to decorate for Chinese New Year very soon, so she would get to help put up some new decorations again.

As we took the decorations down for yet another year, I couldn’t help but reflect on so many of the items and ornaments that have come to have special meaning as part of our Christmas. When we first married, we chose to adopt one of the traditions that I had seen in my parent’s marriage—collecting a special ornament from all of the places that we have gone together or ornaments to commemorate special moments from that year. We have a tree that is mainly white, silver and has a few accent colors.


We also have a whimsical child’s tree for Little One to collect ornaments that are special to her and also represent various memories. 
As you can imagine, you cannot always find an ornament easily where you choose to travel, but somehow we’ve managed to look for at least an object that I could creatively turn into an ornament in some way, so that we would forever remember that moment in time each year that Christmas comes along. In addition to ornaments we have collected, we have also been given some wonderful ornaments over the years that also bring back special memories of places, events or people in our lives.

As the boxes came out and little fingers helped to take each of these memories off of the tree, we reminisced of so many special moments God has given both of us in this journey of life and the ornaments that represent each of these stories and so many God moments-

Of my first trip overseas to India, meeting lepers and 600 orphans and seeing the dire poverty and conditions the majority of our world lives in…
Of a special engagement proposal from a wonderful husband who is now a wonderful father…
Of materials once hung around a wedding reception space and now gets spread out underneath our presents and draped beneath our Christmas tree…
Of an engagement ring, and trips to San Francisco and Seattle…
Of ornaments made by Nate and I in our first year of marriage on a “date night” (pretty sure he never let me talk him into that again)…
Of a special Chinese co-worker I first worked with who taught me how to make authentic Chinese dumplings and dipping sauce…
Of a nativity scene from South America that reminds me of all of the places both visited and lived…
Of wrinkled hands of a Grandma that made an angel- 
A dove that represents women and girls in Cambodia that have been victims of sex trafficking, yet have now been rescued…

Of people in Korea that need our prayers and who handcrafted stars and birds as a way to remind us to pray for them…


Of several trips to Guatemala with special friends to minister to our adopted village. Of a special trip where we found this star ornament the year we had been matched with our daughter just days before leaving for Guatemala.  While there we walked dusty roads of our rural village, built a church building, all the while wondering what it was like for our little one to have been in her village in China for a short period of time and what her life currently was like…
Of ornaments given to commemorate us being matched that year…one of which our official adoption photo given to us in China fit absolutely perfectly in.
Of items discovered in China during our adoption trip that will forever remind us of that special time…and the lady in China that gave our little one a butterfly ornament…
Of a little girl that was once an orphan, but is now our daughter. Of that moment that she became ours and changed her name & those first socks that she wore when they handed her to us- a symbol of what she would soon become ( a little star that would shine so brightly in a dark world and overcome the darkness of her story) 
Of little feet, little hands, and little fingers that joined ours that first Christmas home…
Of the first ornament she made her 1st Christmas in her class at church, after 10 very hard months of getting her to acclimate to being away from us (of which now she absolutely LOVES and can't wait to be in each week)
Of balloons and ice cream- her favorite toy her first year with us and what soon became her favorite treat later that year…
Of special Chinese wire ornaments made by individuals in China to help support their family…
Of a handmade ornament box that helps count down the 25 special days until Christmas with special family activities and Christmas books to read…
Of a fortune cookie announcing to everyone this summer that we were adopting from China again.
These ornaments and many more represent so many precious moments in life and in our family. So while the nostalgia from Christmas 2016 dies off and a new year ahead of us begins, we look forward to 2017 and the new moments, new memories, and new experiences that are yet to unfold for each of us. Memories that will somehow find their place on a Christmas tree at the end of this year.