It’s true what they say – seeing Christmas through the eyes of a child brings the wonder, the magic, the excitement. Now that my husband and I have a home to ourselves, so to speak, we have a lot of peace and quiet and space and freedom, but a lot less energy and very little happy noise. In fact, the silence has been one of the loudest differences in our home from the childrearing years to now. Having our grandchildren and our grown children here the past few days took me back to the busyness, the hubbub, of a full family schedule with meals to prepare and little ones to wrangle and happy chaos to manage. Oh, there was no lack of talk and laughter and all manner of conversation lines! And when they are gone, it does seem unusually quiet in these spaces, and there is too much food left in the refrigerator and too few toys cast about the living room.
But, on the other hand, there is a sense of contentment and accomplishment. Thinking about it today, I realized that this stage of life means that I, that we, my husband and I, have completed one of our assignments – to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Now our responsibility as parents has no expiration date – we will love and encourage and pray for and be there for these children we brought into the world and for their spouses and children until the day we depart this earth. But, the folder of time that was birthing and raising and releasing has been closed. We fulfilled our mandate to “be fruitful and multiply” and to “teach diligently to our children” and to “train them up in the way they should go.” That’s both an odd and a comforting realization. And it mostly makes me thankful. I’m grateful to the Lord. And I’m depending on Him for wisdom and strength to tackle the next season and for discernment in my praying for them.
So, this Christmas is empty, but not in a bad way. An empty house actually means a full home. A home full of the years, full of the right priorities, full of the best perspectives, full of the eternal outlook. When our children are raised and leave to do God’s bidding, our hearts and our futures are full.
Happy Christmas to our full and happy family! And to you!
