A Most Blessed Gift...

“Each difficult moment has the potential to open my eyes and open my heart”

by Myla Kabat-Zinn

Ahhhh, Christmas vacation time…very well received to be sure!

As noted in my previous posts, the earlier period of weeks in the life of a special education teacher, namely ME, have been hectic and stressful indeed with the enmeshment of work and home prior to the holidays. However, the quote above has been actively occurring as I’ve been afforded the opportunity to do some self-evaluation and self-inventory; thank you Angela and Beth.

Anyway, the hustle-bustle has been upon us and in the luxury I’ve blessed myself with the reading of amazing writings of my blog community; visit any number of them on the side-bar and you will truly be given a gift I assure you! As stands to reason the themes revolve around the Christmas holidays; music, traditions, memories which have compelled me to appraise my thoughts and feelings in the direction of this celebration as well.

I have to be honest and admit Christmas has never been my preferred holiday. One, I don’t like all the commercialism which robs the time of year of the true meaning; the birth of the blessed baby Jesus. Two, past holiday stress with a childhood filled with a multitude of dysfunctions has truly tainted my perception and I have a propensity to look at the negative rather than the positive regarding this season.

Here is the change occurring…one of my followers, Mildred (thank you Dear and you can view her post here) posted yesterday about Christmas memories and revealed some depictions that immediately launched my travels to past recollections. One such was the Simplicity pattern that guides me to the images of my divorced single mother of five children. At the time entrenched in domestic violence and functioning on three jobs to provide us with basic necessities as well as Christmas gifts.

My mom was an exceptional woman who crocheted and sewed, although I didn’t appreciate it at the time since as a young girl, I wanted to wear what others were wearing and not an article of clothing my mother had created. However, with these talents, my sister and I were given clothes for our Barbie dolls. As I conversed with Mildred I reported I’d try to unearth them so this break of day I prodded through tucked away memorabilia of old and nudged the musty smells to discover my treasures displayed below.

I can hear my sister now; Dawn will be calling to accuse me of stealing her Barbie clothes. I’ll just have to inform her it was actually Barbie who ‘borrowed’ them to widen her wardrobe and just failed to return them! HeeHee…

But the true gift is this: throughout the days and weeks leading up to the here and now, I’ve been forced to ‘re-frame’ my thoughts and perceptions of people, happenings and holidays. As intricate as the incidences were, it was moreover a present to me.

So, what does life force you to do at times, particularly this time of year? What gifts have you given to yourself?

I will give my utmost effort to leave behind the sadness this holiday entails and embrace it with a new vision. And it begins with a thank you to my mom who has always given us the best of herself when times were beyond exhausting and difficult, as she continues to do on a fixed retirement income. She’s still the mom and I’m still the little girl…

Do you have the Holiday Spirit?

It is with enormous sadness that I momentary look out my window at all the merriment displayed; strands of evergreen and wreaths draped on doorways and windows, illumination glistening on eaves, trees and roof tops and music serenading in stores as a steady reminder of the upcoming Christmas season.


It is a time when I recognize and am reminded what a particularly difficult time of year this is for countless individuals in our world. People are unemployed, money is sparse as benefits have run dry; compounding the decision of whether to buy gifts or groceries. There is a remarkable sadness that has blanketed the world as individuals are grieving for lost loved ones, fatal illness have been diagnosed and tragedies have abounded.

Yet, we struggle with who is on our shopping list, how much shall we spend on each individual and is it enough? Do I have an abundance of decorations? Who will attend my party? We frantically search for the illusive gift with the purpose to make that special someone content and pleased. We attempt to out-shine our neighbors with lights, glitter and glitz packaging with it insurmountable stress.

Is this what the Lord, our God had in mind with the birth of Jesus Christ? It is during these hectic frantic times that I am reminded that the season is more than the gaily decorated gifts, or the amount of presents under the tree. It is more beautiful than that of the elucidation of our decorations dressing our homes and the sweet smells of cookies baking.

I personally rummage around for the Christmas spirit each season only to fall short, so while I continue to try to find the false delight I pray for the fortitude to seek it only within my heart.

And in closing, where do you find yours and does it go missing in action this time of year?