Tis the Season

One of phrases we often hear this time of year is “Tis the Season.”  Tis this season of giving, tis the season to be jolly and joyous, tis the season is even tossed around jokingly in front of other phrases… tis the season to battle the sinus crud.  But often it is so true…. It is just a season.  We don’t watch Hallmark Christmas movies forever (ok, maybe a bad example), as much as I love sitting by the lights of the tree I won’t leave those decorations up all year, we won’t sing Christmas carols at church all 52 Sundays of the year, we don’t decorate sugar cookies every weekend, we won’t hear jingle bells in the mall in May…. It is just a season.  And it seems to pass so quickly.

Parenting is NOT always fun and easy, but the last week has brought a lot of those moments where I just marvel at how fun and sweet it is to be the cowboy’s Momma.  I wasn’t feeling well one night last week, (tis the season for sinus crud) and he came bounding in to where I laid on the couch to tell me he brought me a drink to make me feel all better.  He has asked multiple times for us to sing together, and even told me I needed to sing louder.  He has said and done funny things, wanted to snuggle on the couch, begged to lay on the floor together and read books, and flashed his dimples for a zillion silly reasons. 

Yesterday, he made a little door hanger at his daycare that says “Santa, Please stop here!”  While the true meaning of Christmas is always first and foremost in our home, we choose to also have some fun with Santa, so I “oohed” and “aahhed” over this craft and complimented his coloring.  I read it aloud and then asked if he would like to hang it on the door knob to the door between our kitchen and garage.  He agreed that would be “a good place for it.”  Then for the next hour I kept catching him going to the door, opening it, looking out, and then saying “No, he’s not here yet!”  It took me a couple listens to realize he was looking for Santa… after all, we had just hung a sign on the door requesting him to stop here. 

And I will be honest, I have tried to savor every moment of this.  Because I realize it is just a season.  There will come a time my pre-teen boy won’t be overly excited about helping me get over the sinus crud, there will be a time he no longer wants to snuggle on the couch or begs me to sing loudly with him.  There will come a time he won’t want to lay on the floor and read books.  There will be a Christmas where he will no longer watch out the door for Santa to stop.  This is just a season, and I know it will pass so quickly.

Since becoming a mom, there are parts of the nativity account that stick to me so much more vividly than they ever did before.  Especially the verse in Luke “But Mary treasured up all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2: 19)  She knew this little boy of hers was truly special.  She was holding the Messiah, the Savior, Emmanuel in her arms.  I highly doubt she had any idea how God’s plan for his life was going to unfold, but she knew how much she had to treasure him.  Getting to cradle the Son of God was only going to last for a season. 

As I have studied that verse more this Christmas, I realized something I hadn’t before… it is repeated again later in the same chapter of Luke.  When Jesus is 12 and his family takes a trip to the temple in Jerusalem and he sticks around to talk with the teachers and his family leaves without him…  After he has been found, and they have left for a second time, again the verse reappears in Luke 2:51 “But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.”  I can’t help but wonder if she treasured them because she knew it was only for a season.

So if you stop my by house this week, you might notice all the laundry isn’t folded, and not every dish is clean.  Some nights we are eating re-heated leftovers, and you will hear endless shouts of rodeo phrases from the basement.  And I will be down there joining in, or snuggling by the Christmas lights, or reading stories, because this is only for a season… and I don’t want to let it slip by.

But in the meantime, I’m so thankful the best gift we celebrate this season will LONG outlast this season.  That God’s gift of Jesus is eternal, and I pray I will treasure it in my heart every day.  In this season, and beyond. 

“But Mary treasured up all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2: 19)