The Mystery of the Season

If I receive no other gift this year, I shall say I've gotten the best gift of all—another Christmas spent with my Mom. This time of year brings a bittersweet longing to my soul for those whom I have loved, family members and friends, who now celebrate Christmas Eternally. I am so thankful that I haven't had to add my Mom to that growing list of people who are now mere memories.

Christmas Memories of times long past

When faces we no longer see were near.

The sound of laughter and happiness;

Scenes forgotten thru the years.

Christmas will never be the same for me when that happens. There is a Mysterious Event that happens in my heart this time of year like no other and I dread the day when the "Reason" for that is no longer here...the longing to be home again.  No matter how old I am or how far away I've journeyed, "HOME" is always where Mama is, and I treasure each and every day God gives to me to spend with her.  I love my Mom.  We've lived through so much heartbreak together and no matter what we go through or how much we argue, in the end, she is always there; has always been there.  Moms are the only ones who never leave us, our whole lives through.  They are there at our birth and for all the days of our lives, until their time on earth is through.  We only get one Mom, and when she's gone, there will never be another to take her place.  Life will never be the same for me without my Mama.

I don't understand it, 

But it happens every year. 

It hits me in December 

I get that longing to be here.

It's like I'm one of the Wise Men 

And this house, it's like the star. 
Something inside me says 
"Make that journey!" 
I can feel it in my heart.

It sends me down the highway 
To feed a hunger in my soul. 
I drove all day to get here, 
As if I had control.

And the cars out in the driveway, 

Tell me I am not alone. 

It's the Mystery of the Season, 

One by one, coming home.

Some cross the street to get here, 
And some come from distant shores. 
Some arrive in their latest successes; 
Some arrive in rusty Fords.

 
And one may come in anger, 
And one may choose to stay away. 
But if they do, I think I know 
How they'll spend their holiday.

And I believe the saddest day 
I'll ever spend is yet to come. 
When it's time to make this journey, 
But all the reasons to are gone.

Still it sends me down the highway 

To feed a hunger in my soul. 

I drove all day to get here, 

As if I had control.

And the cars out in the driveway, 
Tell me I am not alone. 
It's the Mystery of the Season, 
One by one, coming home.

The Mystery of the Season 
by 
Steve and Annie Chapman

May each of you have a blessed Christmas with your dearest family and friends. 

REMEMBER: Life is all about making a memory, for it is memories that we create that ward off the cold emptiness and trivial pursuits that affect so many during the holidays...the ability to remember how exciting it was to sit on Daddy's lap and wait for Santa Claus; how delicious Granny's kitchen always smelled on Christmas Day; and my older brother's resounding laugh that echoed off the rafters.  I have the most amazing memories of Christmas at my Granny and PawPaw Tinker's house.  The memories I have of my own childhood home on Christmas are not nearly as happy.  Those memories are closeted away and pulled out rarely....only for melancholy days or when my mama begins talking about my dad....then, I remember.  Maybe one day I will forget.

Most importantly, there has only ever been ONE Christmas Morning; the rest are merely anniversaries of the Birth of a child on that often Forgotten Christmas morning.

May the Mystery of the Season touch your life this year!

~Laterz,

Starr