Merry Christmas!

Wow, can it be? Another year has come and gone? This morning, as we celebrated Jesus' birthday, I began thinking of some Christmases past...

When my sister and I were little girls, we would wait eagerly for Santa to arrive and fill our stockings, which were truly hung by a fireplace. (Now since we don't have a fireplace, we hang them by the heater vent). In the middle of the night when we were sure Santa had arrived, we would leap out of our beds and head down the hall to the living room. There, we would find stockings full of fun items. We'd turn the light on very low (yep, we even had dimmer switches back then!) and empty out the homemade stockings. Carefully, we would scope out the goods then return them to our stockings all before midnight. We'd then hang up the stockings and head back to bed. Looking back, I recall that my parents always stayed up very late on Christmas Eve and were always whispering among the sounds of rattling paper and the tears of scotch tape.

Since I've never been one who loves surprises, I became adept at a young age at unwrapping my gifts and rewrapping them, all without anyone ever being the wiser. Big mistake when I told my husband that right after we'd gotten married. More on that later...

Fast forward to mine and Lon's first Christmas together after we'd only been married for a short five months. We were very young and very poor (I had a temporary job and Lon was unemployed at the time) and we lived in a shabby single-wide green and white trailer with a large dent in the front of it from where a tree fell on it. Not only that, but it was right next to a busy highway. I remember the first time Lon showed me the trailer with such enthusiasm after we'd first become engaged. We braved the tall weeds and the barbed wire fence to catch a glimpse inside the dented window of our "new home." Later, we would discover that although the rent was free, this home was far from perfect. After finding mouse poop in the kitchen drawers and finding out we had no heat (it was never more than 30 degrees inside the trailer that first winter), I quickly realized it wasn't our dream home. Not only that, but after my mom and I planted a tree and flowers and put up a split rail fence in the front yard, a herd of cows came in and knocked over the fence, ate the tree, and pooped right outside our front door. Ah well...such humble beginnings. Thank the Lord we were healthy and in love.

The trailerhouse had three bedrooms and two of them were storage rooms for the accumulation of "stuff" Lon and I had both brought to the marriage. (Did I mention that Lon and I both have packrat tendencies, which I like to refer to as being "sentimental"?)

One day about a week before Christmas, I went in the room with the orange carpet (did I mention this was a trailer from the 1970s?) in search of something I thought I'd lost. Lo and behold, I was so excited when I came across a brand new pizza cutter during my search. I was so thrilled that I could barely wait to share the good news with Lon. He was not amused when I showed him what I'd found. "Wow, I can't believe I found this in the drawer of that little old dresser. And to think we've needed a pizza cutter. Wow!" Lon took one look at me and reached for the pizza cutter. "That was your Christmas gift," he said sternly. "I hid it in that room so you wouldn't find it." After that day, he became wiser and either wrapped my gifts or hid them at a different location until Christmas. My grandpa was a police officer in San Diego and an investigator, so I guess being a detective is in my blood.

Fast forward again to a few years later and two homes later. This time, we had graduated to a home we'd helped to build - a home that had heat and no dents except for the one in the garage when a trailer got loose from the truck, BUT that's a story for a different time. By now, we were less young, less poor, and more gainfully employed. Lon had heard of how I'd opened my presents when I was little and then rewrapped them due to a confession I'd made during a weak moment. As such, he'd decided the only way to keep me from doing that with the Christmas gifts he bought me was to wrap them with duct tape. Not scotch tape like most folks, not even masking tape or packing tape, but duct tape. Talk about a challenge to get open and rewrap! (but I managed). However, that year, more of his gifts to me were surprises than ever before.

The next year, Lon decided to purchase me a toolbox with my own tools. It was very organized and included a hammer, nails, screws, picture hangers, a glue gun, and a bunch of other things but I don't know what they were. How I wished I was handier with the hammer, drill, and hot glue gun, but I'm not. When I was in Woods class in high school, I hated it. I made a bench for my parents (which they improved on quite a bit) and which I have threatened them if they get rid of because it's the only thing I'll ever make of wood. I'm just not gifted with construction tools, even though I wish I was like the rest of my family who can build or fix anything. So Lon thought he'd be a "sweetheart" and buy me my own toolbox so I could hang my own pictures, make my own repairs, and build my own little knick knacks. I tried to act excited when I opened the square gift covered in duct tape. I was envisioning a beautiful sweater, new coat, or even a new pair of shoes (can you tell I like clothes?) But no. It was a red toolbox. Needless to say, it was the thought that counted and the episode allowed me to retell it for a large audience on the pages of Woman's World magazine. Still...what was he thinking?

Lon made up for it when he bought me the entertainment center I'd always wanted to house his numerous electronic equipment and gadgetry. He had the deliverymen hide it in the neighbor's garage, then before we even woke in the morning, he had it all put together in the living room. He's definately made up for the toolbox.

When our girls came along, it was exciting to make up our own traditions - Candlight service at my parents' church on Christmas Eve after dinner with them; Christmas caroling at nursing homes; a homemade birthday cake for Jesus (did I mention that there's a disagreement in our house over whether Jesus would rather have chocolate or pumpkin cake?), and of course, our yearly tradition of chips with spray cheese for Christmas dinner.

Our daughters have also made up their own tradition to give each other a "gag" gift each year. Last year, Sunshine, our oldest daughter, gave Doodle an empty milk jug. It was wrapped so elegantly in the prettiest wrap Sunshine could find and Doodle was so excited to open it. The picture that captured her facial expression when she unwrapped the gift is truly a "Kodak moment." Likewise, Doodle had given Sunshine an old moldy avocado seed since Sunshine detests avocados. With her exaggerated gag reflex in place, Sunshine let every Zeller know her true feelings about her gag gift.

Our daughters are also engaged in many service projects for the less fortunate. I encourage you to enlist your family in doing something worthwhile for God's Kingdom this Christmas season. For some ideas, you can check out my book "77 Ways Your Family Can Make a Difference." The ideas inside this book are great for any day of the year and truly help families embrace Jesus' mandate that we love our neighbor.

Above all, through all the years of Christmases, whether when I was a little girl or now as an adult, one thing remains the most important to me about this time of year. The real reason for the season - Jesus. In all the other festivities of the season, we sometimes forget what it's really all about. In the midst of Santa, snowmen, presents, and mistletoe, the most important One gets left out. It still amazes me that Jesus would come to earth as a baby and choose to live in this fallen world - for us. He didn't have to, but He did. Mary held her baby and looked into the eyes of the One who would give His very life only three decades later for all humanity. I can't imagine what she must have thought as she did so.

It's mindboggling when I think about Jesus' sacrifice. He's been through everything we go through each day and understands. What a wonderful God we serve! Let's take time today - and everyday - not just on Christmas - to thank Him for what He did for us. Let's thank Him for giving us the hope as each day passes that our futures are secure in Him. Let's make sure our trust is in Him and in Him alone and that someday we can spend eternal life with the One who came to earth in the flesh to save all of mankind. If you are reading this and don't know if you are saved, I urge you to reach out to your pastor or a Christian friend or feel free to email me. I would be happy to point you in the direction of someone who can help.

Merry Christmas and may God bless you all!