Baby's First Christmas

Today is Christmas day, the original due date of Phoebe. We thank God that she is here in our life, healthy as can be. She is God's Christmas gift to us this year. There is nothing else I need nor want.

Being that it is our first Christmas as a family, I just wanted to give thanks to our God whose love and grace has given us this baby girl. She is changing my life day by day, and I'm always so excited to develop my role and husband and now father. God knew in our hearts that we wanted to have children, and in our prayers, we asked God for a healthy child that we could love, care for, and grow with. God answered our prayers this year, giving to us this child, Phoebe. Both Mimi and I pray that God's wisdom be with us as we learn what it means to be Godly parents and raise up Godly children. Thank you God, for Phoebe.

I also wanted to thank God for Mimi. She is the perfect partner I could have ever asked for. We share our various loves, whether it be food, fun, good friendships, each other, and most of all our mutual love for God. This Christmas, I'm especially thankful that she is willing to share in the Christmas experience with me. I know that growing up, she has been taught in her local church that Christmas does not exist and therefore to not celebrate it. This is something that her mother still holds to. However, Mimi, having stepped away from the local church, understands that it is not simple the date of December 25th, but the meaning behind Christmas, the celebration of the birth of our Savior, that is most meaningful to those of us Christians who do celebrate it.

Being from Chicago and the majority of my family still residing there, I am having a touch of homesickness. Seeing a tree that is packed with presents and a living room that is overly decorated with Christmas stuff that my mother always does year to year. I mean, if she could set up a snowy town to help get into the Christmas spirit, she would. Even though one may think this is bizarre or weird, this is Christmas for me. Then there is the Christmas day dinner with more food than anyone could imagine. The table is busting out because there are more people than it can hold. The grandchildren sitting at another table eating more kiddy food rather than grown up food. Christmas music playing in the background. The warmth of the home sheltered from the bitter Midwestern cold. All of what I'm describing here is what I remember Christmas to be. In the years that I have been alive, I can only count two Christmas seasons that I did not go home to celebrate with my family, this being the second. For the most part, I or Mimi and I have been there to celebrate. This year however, since Phoebe is so young, we're opting to stay put and celebrate on our own.

A celebration is not complete with some people to celebrate with. Luckily, Ton and Cynthia offered to come over and celebrate with us for lunch. We decided to make a brunch out of it, and so Cynthia cooked her breakfast casserole and I cooked and prepared the remainder. It was a simple meal, but with good food and even better company. Afterwards, we just hung out in the living room, passing Phoebe around from person to person, talking about the present and the future. Of course, what would our get together be like without a little talking about investing and purchasing real estate. As much as I feel bad that we talk and talk with Ton, I know that when the time comes and we purchase, Ton will be there to help us and make the deal for us and himself. We are very lucky to have good Christian friends, whom we can call family now since they are the God Parents of Phoebe.

Now I am waiting for our dinner to finish cooking. I was thinking about a ham, but in the end opted for the ribey roast. Oh it smells so good as it cooks up. I will make some potatoes, Mimi's mother will make shrimp, and we'll also have some Brussels sprouts with ham. I guess that is our vegetable for the day. Then after dinner, I've rented National Lampoons Christmas Vacation to cap off this Christmas, and I hope that Phoebe will join me in her sleep in the living room.

All in all, this has been a very quiet Christmas. I'm glad my family called and I got to speak to most of them before they started their dinner.

Oh, I forgot one more thing about our dinner tonight. As the head of this household, I intend to set the tradition of reading the birth of Jesus every year. This tradition is something that my father did, not necessarily the reading of the birth of Jesus, but he would always have a time of reflecting on God's word. I agree with this and hope that this tradition holds firm in this household as well.

Even though I am homesick, I do feel that it is our time to set this family's Christmas traditions. I'm not out to make it seem crazy or wacky in any way, but to have us reflect on the birth of our Savior who gave us eternal life and so much more.

Thank you God for your gift of your Son Jesus to this world, and thank you for the gift of Phoebe this Christmas 2008.