It must be my year of discovering favorites. I can now tell you my favorite day of the year. It’s the day my kids get out of school for Christmas break. I begin counting down the days some time in October. My heart really starts racing as we reach Thanksgiving break. And then there are those three weeks of school that separate Thanksgiving and Christmas. I feel like the Little Engine Who Could. Only I’m not so convinced I “could” as I keep chugging along, feeling the steam pour out of me, but trying to keep moving on, one step at a time, until . . . we . . . reach . . . the . . . finish.
It’s during that last week that I start to consider homeschooling: an end to all of the frantic costume-making, party-planning, concert-attending, present-buying, lunch-packing chaos. (Then I remember how nice it is to have the kids out of the house while I work on my Christmas letters, wrap presents, and attempt to earn a little money to pay for their presents.)
And then that glorious Friday arrives. (Probably it would be sacrilegious to call it “Good Friday,” huh?) The teachers’ gifts are delivered, the mittens for the homeless are collected, the classroom gift-exchange game is played, the treats are devoured, and it’s time to go home. And crash. For the next 2 ½ weeks. No alarm clock! No carpool! No homework! No sports practices! No lunchboxes! Really, I’m not sure we need presents at all. These are all the gifts I need.
Thank you, Jesus, for coming into our world. Thank you for saving us from our sin. And thank you, thank you for Christmas break.
(P.S. Don’t forget to watch the Bronco game Sunday afternoon. Could be another miracle in the making!)
