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'Tis Our First Season

I have encountered many “firsts” this year that accompanied my life changes - graduating from college, transitioning into a full-time job and getting married.

Many additional firsts come along with marriage. Everything is fresh and exciting as a newlywed – even consuming a simple meal such as spaghetti can be exciting when you realize it’s the first time you’ve eaten spaghetti sitting across the table from your husband!

John and I are about to experience our first Christmas season as a married couple. I’ve been blessed to celebrate seven holiday seasons with him, but this year will be completely different since we are now our own family unit. That means a lot of things – including the fact that we now have to cook something for all of the holiday potluck meals we will enjoy with our families! Yikes.

Seriously though, I’m excited that we have the opportunity to set our own traditions. We can decide how we will celebrate Jesus’ birth from 2009 forward and what we will incorporate into our commemoration of Christmas as a family.

John has always challenged me about the ideas I’ve held about Christmas actually, but in a good way. I tend to get swept away in the music, festive food and other commercial, “fun” aspects of the holiday, but John is much more intentional in his desire to reverently make it about Jesus. I pray that I will lean more his way and less mine as we bring our thoughts together under one roof. I’m excited to see how we will welcome the Savior into the world for the first time as a married couple.

I also ask you to pray for me – John is scheduled to work on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Thankfully, his shift ends at 3:30 p.m. each day, but please pray for him – that he will have a good attitude as he works - and pray that I will be kind and patient as well. I do not want to be sad or generate self-pity or any negative, selfish emotion. I want to be thankful for the time we have together, period.

I hope that you are joyful in your anticipation of Thanksgiving and the Christmas season regardless of any firsts you are experiencing – maybe it is your first holiday season without a loved one or without the ability to see certain relatives. I pray that we all focus our minds and hearts on what truly matters – “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” John 1:14

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