Santa came to the Lovett house on Christmas in a big way! The girls had their alarms set for 6:30, they wanted to set them at 4. They pulled our tired grown-up bodies down to the steps to see what awaited them. When they rounded the corner from our stairway, the shouts of "Wow!", and "I can't believe it!" filled our house. The presents from Santa covered half of the family room. It looked as if Toys R Us had opened up a new store in our little town of Cokeburg. With video camera rolling, and Dawn snapping stills, the girls ripped into their gifts. "Look what I got!", was uttered about every other second. The camcorder looked as if I was watching a tennis match. A shot of Syd opening up something, then across the room to Abbey, then back to Maddie, it was a frenzy of wrapping paper. I tried to keep them somewhat organized, with presents in one pile, and paper in another. But, after a few times of saying, "Paper in one pile, and stack your presents!", I could tell that it would be useless. The girls went through their presents like a fire through a dry forest. Sydney, at the peak of unwrapping, opened one present, and yelled "Cool, look what I got!" I then responded to her with a, "Well, what is it?" After sitting a few seconds she shot back, "I don't know, but it looks cool!" (It was a mini-portable mp3 player.)
Sitting there, watching the girls open their gifts from Santa, made me very thankful again. Thankful that I am sitting here, with my wife, daughters, and daughters to be. Thankful for the family, and the support that they have shown us over the past couple of months. Thankful for the many wonderful, and close friends that we have. (Santa would of never made it here without you!) And thankful for Him, born on Christmas! You see, God surrounded us with all of our family and friends for a reason. He knew what was ahead of us in October when we found out about the mass. He knew that we would need prayer and peace. Each one of our friends and family has given the Lovetts the best gifts of all. The gift, and power, of prayer. The gift, and tranquility, of peace. And the gift of the power of love.
There has been some amazing events that has happened because of the tumor. Family bonds have been mended, and strengthened. Friends have come together, and have been reunited after years. Friends who are always there have showed their love, and support, and have only made our love for them stronger. A community now looks different in our eyes when we drive through it. From our daily trips from Cokeburg, through Ellsworth, and into Bentleyville, we no longer see all the business that are no longer in business. We no longer see the sleepy, little streets. We see a community that is thriving. A community thriving on its commitment to the individuals who live in it. A community thriving to help a neighbor, and reach out a hand to one in need. If you have ever seen the movie "Pleasantville," you can imagine the Lovetts driving through our community, and seeing for the first time, the bright colors that these community members have washed our town with. The colors of love, kindness, compassion, and care.
Our Christmas festivities wrapped up around 11 P.M. last night. The girls all dressed in new pj's, went up to bed with no complaints. The family room still looked as if a toy bomb had exploded in it, and Dawn and I went to bed, leaving it until tomorrow, and thinking to ourselves that this will definitely be a Christmas that we will never forget.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment