Merry Christmas Eve

I love people, and stories, and sharing, and community, and togetherness.   For me,  this makes the holiday season an extra magical time of year.   This is a season of opportunities to visit friends, families,  memories,  recipes and traditions that have brought me joy before.   It makes me overflow with gladness and thanksgiving for so many blessings in my life. 

There is a quietness to the season that I love too.   Though to say that out loud amidst the bustle seems wrong.   But it's there for me...a calmness that exists in the glow of the Christmas lights,  in the catching up with friends and just resting in their prescence,  and at the end of the nights when days have been fully spent.   The evenings let my heart listen to rhythms sometimes unheard at other times of year. 

And there is an abundance of love that is tangible around me this time of year.  Extra hugs, notes from friends who do not live near,  the story of a savior's birth, and messages of the best of humanity.   These make my heart sing, help restore depleted energy stores,  and remind me what I love most about life and living. 

And today is a significant day in all of that.   The last full day before Christmas.  Tomorrow my family will embrace rest,  but today we fully imbibe in the festivities.   My holiday spirit isn't quite the same this year,  but I am still looking forward to a day of spending time with my family and enjoying the best of what the season has to offer. I hope it is a restorative day of loving people on some special people.

Merry Christmas Eve!