I had the best Christmas ever. Not because the gifts were good but because the company was good and the memories were strong. As I sat at my parent's home on Christmas Eve, I did my usual introverted thing and retreated into the recesses of my mind thinking about a lot of things.
I am blessed beyond measure. I remember as a child wishing we could move into a different house. Not because I didn't like my house but because I thought it was cool to move. We didn't. Then when I got married, I was beside myself to move to a different state and see new things. That zeal lasted about 6 months and then reality set in that my home was in Tennessee. We lived in Georgia for 6 years and the Lord blessed us with a job in my home town. We moved back. My zeal to move back was exponentially better than my zeal to move away. I have not moved away again. All my family lives within 5 minutes of me and I love it like that. My children have grown up being in their grandparents homes and knowing their grandparents. My roots are so deep in Hendersonville, Tennessee that it would take a massive effort to uproot me.
Back to Christmas, I sat around my parent's home, my childhood home, and realized how special it is that I am able to celebrate the holidays or any day in the home that I first skinned my knee. The home where I learned multiplication at the kitchen table. The home where I decided where I was going to college. The home where I brought my fiance'. The home where my aunts and uncles ate coconut cake and barbecue. Oh the memories. How blessed am I to be sitting in the home where I grew up, now with my grown children who grew up being in this home also. I sat and listened to my mother play Christmas carols on the piano and my girls harmonizing. The sound was so melodious it was that of angels. I am so very blessed. My mother cooked Christmas dinner. It was perfect. I am so blessed that she is able to cook for us. I treasure that so. Roots. I realized that nowadays, that is incredibly unusual to have roots as deep as mine. Most people move around and don't stay in the same place for one reason or another. Not me. My parents bought their home new and have lived there ever since. I have spent 47 Christmases there. Wow. How blessed am I.
I hope your roots bring you memories as great as mine. Happy New Year to all of you!!
Jennifer
