One More Christmas

 

Thirteen years ago I took on the self-appointed position of "Family Archive Custodian".  I made little videos of family events then posted them on a private website. I view this as the modern version of my mother carefully sticking printed photos in albums that now sit gathering dust in the lowest level of my bookshelves. 

What mattered most is that she got pleasure out of the activity, just as I have enjoyed putting the videos together. The difference, I suppose, is that her physical creations will long out last mine because mine can go away with the pulling of an internet plug. 

And so it goes. Things are until they aren't anymore. A statement some will say is tinged with negativity but I don't mean it to be. I am just practical and a student of history. Nothing lasts forever, but I have to note that some things do last longer than others.

I've always leaned toward being a creative sort and some might say I am prone to seeing things through a looking glass darkly. No one actually steps up and complains that my creations are often slightly melodramatic or, at the least, not exactly chirpy in content. But, outlier that I am, I have always fought to be true to myself and my own vision, regardless and even if the rest of the world does not get me. I am used to it.

To be clear, I am a positive, happy person. I love to laugh, I love to make others laugh. But I also have always had an ability, if that's what it is, to see slightly ahead, if not with my eyes but with my spirit.  In other words I have an instinct to create for more than just the moment. There is always a bigger picture to be seen even if it doesn't come into focus for awhile.

I spent some time going through some of my videos of past Christmases. We have been so blessed as a family to be able to gather together in our traditions of celebration, whether holidays or birthdays or just pot luck dinners. I marvel at how the moving images in the videos capture these moments together as though they happened last week.

The point of this rambling is:

Because something in me sees a huge change coming, I'm going to share one  video in particular because, though it seemed a bit melancholy at the time I put it together, it spoke of another time, nine years in the future from 2011, that we had no expectations of back then. 

We have had many altruistic events built into our family celebrations. For several years our big family Christmas party was graced with Santa and Mrs. Claus who came to enchant us with stories and gather up toys to donate to Toys For Tots.

Anyway, I can now fully defend my choice of music for this video and I'm sure Amy Grant would be understanding.

Even though looking at photos or videos of people you don't know might not be time you see as well spent, I share this anyway. It has another message, embedded nine years ago, that I did not recognize in the moment. 

Merry Christmas. May you be blessed with a comfort that transcends all understanding that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord.

And that the things that really matter do last forever. 

For Him,

Meema

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