WHERE DID THE MAGIC GO?

I have spent the week, since the Thanksgiving clean-up, getting ready for Christmas. We are having BC's office Christmas party at our home. With a down economy, it only seemed fitting that we would scale down and celebrate here. I have spent the week busy with decorating and hope to finish by Saturday. I know the men in our lives think-IT JUST HAPPENS-but it happens with a lot of labor.

As I was shopping for last minute decorating purchases today, I began reflecting upon the holiday and my life long experiences. There was a time that Christmas held a real aura of magic for me, but sadly that has gone. Where did it go and why?

When a young girl, Daddy loved Christmas and his enthusiasm was contagious. I loved Christmas and the anticipation was as wonderful as the day itself. We always had neat and creative gifts under the tree and a stocking with an orange in the toe and filled with fruit and nuts to the brim. It was a magical and wonderful time of the year.

When Daddy died in 1963, Christmas ended for our family. Momma never wanted to celebrate the day again, while in Farmerville and before remarrying. It was a day-like any other day. If there was a tree, I put it up. If there were decorations, they were put up by me. Momma had totally lost any interest. We all were give one gift every year. A gift we decide upon and purchased before the day actually came. No wrappings-just the obligitory gift. It was a sad time every year.

After # 1 came into the world, the magic seemed to reappear. The magic lasted all those years from # 1's early Christmases to # 1 daughter's final Christmas at home. I worked hard to always have the magic that I loved as a child. We had our annual traditions and celebrations that never changed. I loved Christmas-even with all the work it entailed-as much as I did as a child. It did indeed become once again magical.

# 1 daughter married, # 1 had a family of his own & # 2 was off doing his own thing. I continued to decorate-LAVISHLY-inside and out and continued to buy well thought out gifts-BUT the magic had begun to disappear. With the chicks leaving the nest, so did the magic leave Christmas.

As I spent the afternoon decorating, I thought of all of those wonderful Christmases and the wonder in them all. The joy came with the children in my life and their excitement and wonder in the season. That is all gone. We love our grands, but the magic now comes for their parents-it is not the same once removed.

The magic-well today the wonder comes from the true meaning of the season. The wonder of a God that loved us so much that he became flesh to live among us. The wonder of the birth, all of those years ago, of a sacrificial lamb. The wonder that we are so beloved in our Father's eyes that He became flesh among us. He gave Himself so that we, His Beloved, might know the true wonder of His love. The magic has transformed into the wonder of Him. There is no longer any magic-but there is wonder in His boundless love for me and His relentless pursuit of a relationship with me. I have lived long enough, finally, to realize the true glory of the season. I am thankful!