When your Christmas season looks a little different ...

Image from incourage.me

Everything has looked a little different -- make that a LOT different -- in 2020.  Everyday life as we knew it pretty much turned upside down in March.  Holiday celebrations and special events either didn't happen or looked incredibly different.  Easter is surely a case in point.  Our Easter Sunday usually goes like this: an early, often outdoor, church service; a bountiful potluck breakfast after church; a meaningful Easter worship service focusing on Christ's resurrection; a family dinner in the afternoon.  We wanted to make our Easter Sunday special in spite of the coronavirus, so here's what we did: hosted a small outdoor sunrise service on our back deck for a few friends (7 people counting us), followed by a potluck breakfast; after everyone left, watched a live-streamed Easter service; later, enjoyed Easter dinner with our daughter and family (8 people counting us).  It was still lovely and still very celebratory -- but it just wasn't the same.

We probably need to face the fact that Christmas may look a little different in 2020.  Which is why I think it's providential that I came across this article from 2015 as I pondered what more to share for Christmas in July.  It's titled When Your Holidays Need Another Look and is written by Mary Carver.  The author begins with a story about when she got corrective lenses for the first time and realized that the way she'd been seeing the world was not the way it really looked.  She says, "If you begin feeling anxious or sad or bitter when you see the holidays coming, I’d like to encourage you this year to close your eyes, take a deep breath, and then take another look."

I'm not going to quote the entire article here, because I want you to read it.  But Carver gives us some things to look for:

* Look for a reality check
* Look for someone to help
* Look for the blessings
* Look for a new tradition

All of these are so helpful!  Please do go on over and read the article in its entirety.  Pin it or save it in some other fashion to reread as the holiday draws closer.  I will leave you with just one more quote:

"If the holidays are hard for you this year, look for the blessings. Start with the small things and count them. Even if it feels insincere, thank God for another day, for breath in your lungs, for a promise He’s made that you’re still holding onto, for that one person who cares, for the lights or song that makes you smile, just a little bit, even if through tears. Look for the blessings that are still there, even when the holidays are hard."

I hope this is a blessing to someone today or during this 2020 Christmas season!

Lighting up the darkness with vintage candles

Here's a fun Christmas-related project that we recently did.  While clearing out the Christmas decoration storage area at my parents' house, we found some vintage candoliers -- the window candles with a base to set on a window sill.  The ones we found have eight candles each.  Amazingly, these antique lights still work -- and there were extra light bulbs with them!

The cute little box above contained extra bulbs.  Later, we found another, larger cardboard box with a bunch of extra bulbs in it.

Knowing that some folks are displaying candles in their windows these days as a sign of hope, and some towns have even lit the Christmas lights on Main Street, we decided to fit the candolier out with red, white, and blue lights and place it in one of our porch windows.

This worked pretty well until we decided to put the lights on a timer -- from 7 to 10 pm and then in the early morning from 5 to 7 am.  We're not sure if it's just the sheer antiquity of the lights -- they are at least 70 years old! -- or just that the timer is too modern for them, but they keep going out.  The cold damp weather could also be causing issues, we think.  These are the type where if one bulb goes out, none of the others will work.  Thankfully, my hubby has a tester that can determine which bulbs are bad.

We've now fitted it out with more working bulbs and placed it in an upstairs dormer.  Hopefully that makes a difference and the lights keep working.  This is a fun and unique way to show our patriotism.

When we see lights in people's windows, or glowing brightly in a downtown, let's thank God for the hope we have in Him and be faithful to pray for our country!