It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

The kids moved the snowflake in the advent calendar.  And Surprise! ... It's December 22nd.  Just a few more hours until we get to open all those goodies under the tree and see what treasures we've been given this year!

Fourteen years and two days ago, I was still giggly and smiley about a gift I received from one of my most favoritist people in the whole world!

I remember that Brett came over to pick me up for the first leg of my journey home for Christmas.  We were headed to his folks' house in Boulder and then we would head down to Ridgway for Christmas with my family.  I made us lunch and when we prayed together, I noticed Brett's hands were ice cold (a condition I now know to be associated with extreme nervousness), but he played it off as the result of loading up the car.  After carrying my bags to his Subaru, we got ready to leave, but Brett said he had left his coat in the house.  As we walked back into the kitchen, he took my hand and invited me to walk down the hall to the living room.  My heart suddenly started hammering!  Without saying a word, I knew something big was happening.

We sat down by the Christmas tree and he pulled out a plastic bucket with circus pictures on the outside.  I recognized it immediately as a memento from our first date ... fifteen or so couples all going to the circus in Denver together.

As he opened the bucket, he began pulling out ticket stubs and keepsakes of our years dating.  With each little souvenir, he recounted how each event and activity with me had captured his heart.  A tender walk down memory lane from Brett's perspective.

And there at the bottom of the circus bucket was a little box.

With that little ring and that little question and that little, "yes", I was the recipient of the best Christmas present ever!

I could never hope to list all of the blessings of being Brett's bride, but here are a few that come to mind ...

Spending my days with my very best friend ~ and wishing that pesky work didn't take him away,
Four fantastic kids that fill our days ~ and give us lots to talk and laugh about later,
The bliss of "just the two of us" evenings after the kids are in bed ~ sometimes just to be quiet,
Sharing the same love of quirky TV shows ~ Ed, Arrested Development, Community, 30 Rock, Psych, to name few,
Laughing at the same lines in our favorite movies ~ "Oooh, would we say that?",
A game playing buddy ~ Gin Rummy, Cribbage, Yahtzee ... and only if absolutely necessary, Trivial Pursuit,
Amazing in-laws ~ truly a second family,
Someone who gets me ~ and doesn't question when sudden laughter or tears flow in unexpected moments,
Inside jokes, winks and knee grabs under the table ~ no words necessary, and
Patience, patience, patience ~ and patience, oh my!

I was hard-pressed to find a Christmas song for this Musical Christmas Count-Down today that would paint a picture for you about this most amazing gift.  Strangely enough, there is no holiday song that sings the virtues of a man willing to get up in the middle of the night to help the little person declaring, "My bed messy."  Neither could I find a Christmas tune that sings about the wonders of a husband who will bring a glass of wine to his wife as a surprise when she gets out of her one shower of the week at 9 o'clock on a Tuesday night.

But here's a familiar song about the desire we each have to receive the best present ever ... the gift that they've always wanted:

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Ev'rywhere you go;
Take a look in the five and ten glistening once again
With candy canes and silver lanes aglow.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Toys in ev'ry store
But the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be
On your own front door.

A pair of hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots
Is the wish of Barney and Ben;
Dolls that will talk and will go for a walk
Is the hope of Janice and Jen;
And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Ev'rywhere you go;
There's a tree in the Grand Hotel, one in the park as well,
The sturdy kind that doesn't mind the snow.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas; 
Soon the bells will start,
And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing
Right within your heart.

(As kid, I would have loved to have a doll that could talk and go for a walk ... and now I have four!)

Truly this sweet marriage is gift from God.

Neither Brett or I alone could redeem this friendship to be a rewarding and renewing, sensible and satisfying, edifying and enjoyable marriage.  If left to our own devices, selfishness and general crabbiness would run amok!  And you can't buy this intimacy and contentment at the "five and ten" either.  No indeed.  This friendship is straight from God.

We are both most assuredly the joyful recipients of the best gift ever.  Thank You, God!

And as for this Christmas, my gift request would be for You to please help us to keep loving each well ... and forgiving often ... and extending grace ... and being friends.
_____________________________

Prompt #2 ~ Best gift ever.  Evvvooore.