Mama made it good

I like the song, "The Christmas Shoes."  Even though it's sad, it has a wonderful message of love and giving. The little boy in the "story" says, "Mama made Christmas good at our house," and I can certainly relate to that!

Coming from a large family with five siblings, Christmas was never the extravaganza that we see today. The parents of this generation are completely exhausted from trying to "make Christmas good." Each year has to beat the previous one. It's all so sad. So many children do not have a clue what it's really all about. I hear about families who worry about the number of gifts there will be under the tree. Big sigh, little tear.

When I was growing up, we could count on one gift and then socks and underwear made up the rest of the packages. And that was just because we all needed socks and underwear!  But, let me tell you this: there was never a more beautifully wrapped package of socks! Mama knew how to make Christmas good at our house. In especially lean years, she would open the package of socks and wrap each pair individually.

I don't recall ever feeling shorted; even when we went back to school after Christmas break, I was always proud of whatever I had received. It appears that I have not suffered any permanent damage from the shortage. Instead, I am so much the wiser from the overall experience. Mama always managed to come up with that very special gift, even if it was the only one.

Mama wasn't a great cook, just fair, so we didn't have all the "goodies" that our peers bragged about, but she could make fudge! Creamy, melt-in-your-mouth fudge. To this day, a little cube of peanut butter fudge still sends the senses spinning back in time. Mama made Christmas good at our house.

One particularly lean year, we had fallen on desperate times. There would not be much of a Christmas, it was announced. But, Mama had other plans! It was only a few days until Christmas, and still we had no tree. The beautiful ornaments lay in their boxes swaddled in soft tissue paper. One night, while we were sleeping, quiet as a mouse, she crept about. I have no idea how she kept so quiet, but the next morning, there in the corner of the living room, stood our Christmas "tree." Upon closer inspection, we could see that it was actually six medium-sized tumbleweeds spray painted gold. Three-two-one, a perfect pyramid of Christmas perfection! It was decked out with all the precious ornaments and draped in shiny silver tinsel...a commodity that no self-respecting tree could do without!

Curiously enough, I cannot recall the gift I received that year, but I have vivid memories of that beautiful symbol of the holiday. Mama made Christmas good at our house.

As you gather with your family and friends this joyful season, try to remember what the Grinch finally learned, that Christmas comes even without the ribbons and bows, if it comes from the heart! Whatever you give, you'll make Christmas good, when you give it from the heart..."For God SO loved the world, that He gave..."