Christmas is here!

Baby girl has really grown and I cant believe I hold REAL conversations with her. Okay sometimes they are weird conversations and I wish the sky falls down on her English Teacher but hey, she tries. My brother shouldn't hear this because he used to swear that my school should have received a recognition for being the world's School of BROKEN English. He said our English was very, very bad especially the grammar and diction! Anyway yesterday was just one of those days that I had a really bad day.

Baby Girl: How was your day?
Me: Mummy had a bad day
Baby Girl: (rolling her eyes) birth day?
Me: No BAD day
Baby girl: You say today is my birth day? Where is my happy birthday (Cake) and who will sing for me?
Me: No I mean....
Baby girl: Si you said its Christmas? (Big mistake because every morning she asks 'is today Christmas'?)
Me: Okay forget about my bad day lets talk about Christmas, what do you want?
Baby girl: (Counting her fingers) Dress, shoes, socks and blue braids....(why are kids rocking blue, purple and red braids?) Oreo, zing, chocolate for all my babies...(she has a gazillion teddy bears)
Me: How about I just buy Oreo and we skip the rest?
Her: Long laughter and finds something else to do

Thank God kids have an attention span of an ant and talk about this the next minute its that because some conversations! Before you figure out what to say they already found something else to say.

This conversation reminded me of my childhood Christmas. My parents weren't particularly wealthy, okay not wealthy AT ALL, but they managed to buy us NEW outfits for Christmas! Yes from Deacons, you know. Christmas was an exciting moment and I looked forward to the lots of food and the splurge on sugar (soda and sweets). The new cloths was a PLUS. Never mind that they were identical and we looked like some sort of misplaced choir. We always got a tree and decorated it and decorated the whole house with 'lieu lieu'. The house looked so Christmassy and warm. We had lots of visitors and my dad's favorite cassette Jim Reeves boomed in the background. I wondered how my parents afforded new clothing for ALL of us and still managed to pay school fees come January and buy new School shoes and Uniform. Did they dwell on loans? Or did they get Christmas booms from somewhere?

Christmas has always been a special family time, and until now it has meant nothing to baby girl so this is her first REAL Christmas. I beat myself for spending so much when she was younger! The first Christmas when she couldn't even walk or recognize anything I bought her an expensive outfit from Enka Rasha, the second one, she could barely speak and she got a dress from my siz in the US, the third well she could speak and walk alright but gave me a blank look when I said merry Christmas and I still spent on stuff that she didn't even understand. Now this year she is already counting down to Christmas and saying merry xmas, hohohoho...I don't know what to get her, her Christmas wish list revolves around edibles. But God willing, I want to give her a nice Christmas complete with a Christmas tree and Christmas lights. Buy her a new outfit and oh well allow her to rock the blue braids. 

Most of the time we make plans and forget to involve God, Just watching my single colleagues planning their drinking escapades and how they will only be sober enough to say hi to their mom and I look at them and say how come you guys don't say Inshaala, i.e God willing? Who knows about tomorrow?  James 4:¹³ Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” ¹⁴ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 

For me Christmas is a time to give thanks and reflect on the year that was. This year instead of spending my time fussing about gifts to buy and food to make, I choose to be like Mary. I have never enjoyed Christmas because I have always been like Martha, worrying about pleasing people with cards and Christmas messages, making lots of food and never taken time to just focus on Jesus and just relax. I always worry about January and how my baby will go to school and how the following year is going to unfold. My prayer is for God to take control and no matter what happens I want to rest in him and just have peace. It has been a difficult year but I thank God because I have grown spiritually and I can count on him because I know that he is a faithful GOD and he will never ever leave.

Stay focused on Christ and slow down this Christmas! 

 Seasons Greetings:) 

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