Past, Present, Yet To Come

 "The Collector", "Jacob Marley", and "Martha Crachit".

Three of my kids are in the local High School production of "A Christmas Carol".  Last night was the first performance, tonight is the second.
Ever the pensive one, I begin to think of Christmases past, of Christmas present and Christmases yet to come.
Past: I have a few regrets, but none related to family except that I wish we hadn't let other things  distract us from family and focusing on Christ at Christmas. We needed to say "no" more often.  We also needed to say "it doesn't matter what people think" more often!
Present: It's good, but just sad because of being "orphans" as it were.  We have no more parents.  We're "it".  Thankfully we have siblings! I'm so thankful to have my little brother and his family nearby!  We enjoy our family traditions during the Advent season.  One of the things we do is to light our Advent candle and read a small section of a story each evening.  It helps us re-focus and bind us together more as a family.  I'm hoping my children will one day carry on this tradition with their families!

Christmases Yet to Come:  Like most people, we hope for good... (who would hope for bad?!) I look forward to happy Christmases with family and friends.  I long to have my children and (someday) grandchildren around us celebrating together.  I long for Christian friends who will simply reflect and celebrate with us "the reason for the season" (boy is that quote over-used!  But it says it well).
As Tiny Tim says, "God bless us, everyone!".