My Christmas spirit

It's Christmas Eve! I'll just repeat that so it sinks in.  It's Christmas Eve!!  Nope, still haven't wrapped my brain around it yet. Tomorrow is Christmas Day and our first Christmas with our beloved little daughter. And yet I still haven't gotten into the spirit of the season in the same way as years gone by. Our tree is up, decorated with baubles and lights, there are Christmas movies on TV, Hubby and I have made the obligatory run to the shops to buy gifts for our families, and yet it still feels surreal. 

Tomorrow is going to be a quiet one for our new little family. We'll wake up and make a pancake breakfast and open presents with Gracie. Then we're off to a casual late lunch with my side of the family.  We'll probably call it a day soon after that and head home so Gracie can nap.  

We haven't even bought each other gifts this year.  And I think that's why it doesn't quite feel like our usual Christmas.  Anything we might have wanted we'd already bought in some mid-year sale, or we lost interest in while waiting to purchase it. But to be honest, gifts haven't really interested us at all this year.  We've already received our gift, and she was delivered to is in October.  And I know how corny that sounds when I say it out loud, but that's truly how we feel.  I look into her sweet face as she beams up at me with her toothless, sideways smile and I feel like all my Christmases have come at once. 

Sure there are things that it'd be nice to have, like a pretty new dress or a new watch. But I don't NEED those things. I NEED Gracie! And she has been lovingly gift-wrapped by God and delivered to us. Our lives are not complete without her now. Such a tiny little girl has filled all the open, empty spaces in our lives and our hearts. What once we yearned for, what we were missing, we have been given. By the grace of God, we have our daughter Grace. And that is all we need this Christmas.

So this year, and I know for all our years to come, Christmas won't stand for presents or things. The gifts our Lord has blessed us with, on this the day of His birth, are what will remain important. And that is where my Christmas spirit will come from. 

Merry Christmas to you all!

May love and peace surround you during this most special time of year. 

Sunny xx