I finally had MY Christmas this morning. I know it’s December 29th and four days beyond the blessed day, but for me, I had my moment at the kitchen sink at Peter’s and Isaaca’s house an hour or so ago.  I was making a ham bone and Navy bean soup, chopping celery and onions and singing “Ham Bone, Ham Bone Where Ya Been”, when I looked out the window and saw fine snow gently falling.  I had to look a few times, putting my nose on the window glass and making sure that my eyes weren’t deceiving me. Yep!  It was snow! Fine as powder, but snow, all the same!  I started smiling and then looked out into the yard.

The kitchen window looks out onto the chicken yard and hen house.  I must admit; I find myself standing at this window, throughout the day, watching the six chickens chase each other and peck at the ground.  They fascinate me.  I have learned enough of their chicken language and noises to understand when one is telling the other to get out of the hen house, she has an egg to lay.  I watch them run to the bird feeder in the middle of the yard each time chickadees fly in for food.  The tiny birds drop seeds and the chickens know they can have dessert if they are under the feeder.  Today I see them chase a beautiful blue jay out of the yard.  Are blue jays mean to chickens too?

I look beyond the chicken coop into the neighbor’s yard.  He has bright yellow and blue birdhouses in a stark naked tree, shining like a Picasso painting from the leafless branches.  They are so cheerful and almost out of place on this winter’s day.  Two bright red male cardinals land on the tree’s limbs and they perch there, talking in their one syllable language. Three other cardinals hone in and rest on the ground under the tree.  Is it boys day out? The females must be nearby, out of my sight.

I remember Christmas Eve day.  I had spent the entire day shopping and planning for the holiday meals.  I was so exhausted that I could hardly think.  At 4:00 that afternoon, I found myself at the Walmart.  I know.  Crazy, right?  But I was desperate.  I went for three ingredients and came back with a trunk load of groceries and little gifts.

Bill called me as I was standing in the long checkout line.  “Donna, what are you doing?  You’ve been gone for two hours!”
“I know, but I thought of other things and it’s busy here.  I have a headache.  Don’t fuss at me!”
I hung up on him and then thought of something else to say and hit redial. He answered after four rings.  He had no reason to hurry and I was furious at him for not appreciating all I was doing for the family.  “Bill…just for the record, do you remember that every Christmas night you thank me for making Christmas ’happen’ for our family.  That without me and my planning and buying skills, there wouldn’t be much of a Christmas for our family?! YOU THANK ME!  So don’t tell me to come home when I’m not done yet!” I clicked the off button and hung up on him again.  If it weren’t for me we wouldn’t even have Christmas.  Didn’t anyone care but me?

I put the groceries and gifts in the car and waited my turn to back out and get out of the Christmas madness.  I tried to relax.  Let my shoulders fall down…let my neck roll around and stretch.  Where was that Tylenol?  It had to be somewhere in my big old purse.

I turned off the Christmas music on my car radio.  It was getting on my nerves.  I stopped at a red light and waited. A song popped into my head.  An old church song.

“There is none like you.
No one else can touch my heart
Like you do.
I could such for all eternity long
And find there is none like you.”

I was surprised that this song crept into my mind. Was God telling me it was time to focus on Him, forget Christmas’ craziness and concentrate on Jesus, the reason for the season?

The song popped in my mind again.  I began to hum it.  Then it hit me.  “God, are you singing this song to me?  That’s so sweet!”  I paused and more reality seeped in.  “Are you singing this tongue in cheek?  You’re making fun of me!”

The message hit home.  I thought Christmas was about me making memories for everyone else.  I thought I was Mrs. Christmas and without me our family would have a horrible Christmas mess!  “There is none like you,” God was chiding  me.

I got home, shouted out my orders to the boys to empty the car of all of the groceries.  I went straight to Bill and told him about what God had sung to me in the car.  I apologized for being so mean and then started laughing.  How had I missed it so badly?

Today, the guys are watching football in the next room and the smell of the soup begins to fill the kitchen.  Peter pushes one of the buttons on the Charlie Brown Christmas Band Hallmark Christmas Keepsakes.  They play a jazzy version of “Oh Christmas Tree.”  I smile.  I love these little guys and they make me happy each time I hear them.

The business of the season is over.  I’ve been tapped out financially and emotionally. Plus, God ordered me to take a chill pill.  Today is a gift.  I “feel” Christmas for the first time. I look out the window.  The snow is still falling, the flakes bigger. What if it sticks?  The chickens have never seen such a thing.  Merry Christmas to me.

Here’s your song. Enjoy!