This year Christmas Eve was anything but quiet–but that is not bad. One of my long-time friends invited me to join her and her family for their Christmas Eve get-together at her home in Spanish Fork. Somewhere around 50 people came and went during the evening.
We enjoyed a delicious meal–pulled pork on a bun, a variety of tasty salads, chips and, of course, dessert. Her Argentine husband and one of their sons made some merengues–whipped cream or dulce de leche sandwiched between two halves of meringues–a luscious melt-in-your mouth Christmas treat.
There were also rootbeer floats as we gathered in the family room to share Christmas memories, the Nativity story–as narrated by my friend,Diane, and performed by family members in a mass participatory , very informal hand puppet show. Lots of fun!
Her father was honored with gifts from his children, and then most guests went their ways–most likely to finish last-minute Christmas preparations. However, Diane, her sister, Leah, one of her sons, and me continued to talk and play a few games for another hour or so.
What a pleasant evening! I was reluctant to leave, but when I finally did go to my car, I found the driver’s side door frozen shut! Luckily the passenger door opened and I was on my way.
Later that evening I discovered that last of the 12 gifts I received from an anonymous angel (or angels). It was fun to anticipate what the next gift might be for 12 days. The gifts were diverse–a single Christmas ornament, a DVD featuring two animated Christmas stories, three golden brooches, four dangly earrings (that I used for Christmas ornaments!), five votive candles in a lovely gift box, six festive holiday socks (3 pair), seven kinds of candy (which I shared with friends 🙂 ), eight packages of hot chocolate mix, nine snack cakes in the shape of Christmas trees, ten oranges, and eleven-piece Nativity set, and the last–a country Christmas CD with twelve songs on it.
Such thoughtful and clever gifts! Such a generous and kindly deed. It brightened each of the twelve days before Christmas with anticipation and gratitude.
This Christmas I guess I needed to receive as much as I needed to give. Giving and receiving–two sides of the same coin, and we must learn to do both graciously. I’m thankful for the opportunity to do both this Christmas season.