Our Most Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Its absolutely amazing to me that its Christmas today. These last few months have been such a whirl wind that I think in my mind I'm still waiting for Thanksgiving (though we did celebrate in China).

Yet for all the blur of the fall, today was a wonderful Christmas. Today we watched our daughter open a few presents, and though she was (as most young children) way more interested in the paper then the toys, her delight was awesome. We feel overwhelmingly blessed this year.

Over the past several years Christmas has been one of the more painful holidays. Sure, Mothers and Fathers day felt like salt on an open wound but Christmas had become a gaping hole in our hearts.

Don't get me wrong, BJ and I love Christmas. The love of our Savior coming to Earth as a baby, so that we might be adopted into God's family is absolutely reason to celebrate, but all the family activities were a glaring reminder of the absence of our hearts desire.

This year BJ and I didn't go to Wisconsin, we didn't buy each other presents, we didn't make any big plans (though some wonderful friends had us over for lunch which was delightful). We wanted Christmas to be about Sophie, our best present ever, and our gratefulness to the Giver of that gift.

We have no delusions, Sophie is a child, a completely normal (though utterly wonderful) little girl. She gets cranky, she pulls my hair, she wakes us up at night. She will be naughty, test our patience, and become sassy. Someday she might want to date a boy that will scare the poo out of us, dye her hair crazy colors (which will only be a struggle for her father), and she might even skip school. Its not that we think she is a perfect child, but we believe she is a perfect gift from our Loving Father.

Sophie is the answer to years of prayers, years of wanting, and years of waiting. Yet as we celebrate our Savior this Christmas we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is good and His plan was absolutely the best plan. Sophie was worth waiting for.

So this Christmas we are rejoicing with full hearts, we hope you are too.