A Christmas Carol

Every year, Jeff and I have attended a showing of A Christmas Carol at Hale Center Theater. It has been one of our little holiday dates, but this year, we decided it was time to bring the boys along. I absolutely love this production! Beyond the incredible talent and magical stage presentation, the story is a beautiful illustration of what Christmas is all about. While it doesn't directly identify any religious aspects of the season, it definitely pin points all the qualities of Christ that we try to emulate. It shows us the need for greater compassion, love, generosity, kindness, etc. It reminds us that the people around us are who and what we should focus on during our lives and not the trivial pursuits of money, fame, etc. Prior to going, I prepped Jonas so that he could hopefully see past the old English verbiage to discover the real story. After the show, he expressed how much he loved Tiny Tim and how his eyes "filled with water" when the Ghost of Christmas Future showed Scrooge the possible storyline of Tim's death. I think we were all touched during the scene when the cast depicted when several characters were shown silently giving of their own want to a family poorer than themselves. We have been so incredibly blessed. We have more than we could ever need and definitely more than some of our wants. I hope all our children (and especially Danny and Jonas) recognize how fortunate they are. I hope it always inspires their own desires to give. I hope that they can see that kindness and service and giving don't necessarily require a significant financial investment. We can give within our means. We can spread kindness without buying anything. And we can always sacrifice our time to serve. I was glad that we were able to share this with Danny and Jonas. It helped me remember why it is and how we should we celebrate this season. 

As a side note, today was the first significant snowfall of the season. We got at least 6 inches of snow at the house. It made for an interesting drive to and from Sandy, but thankfully, the plows were out in full force so the roads weren't too slick. When we got home, Danny had to run to work (we went to a matinee showing so he could still work in the evening) and Jeff and Jonas decided they wanted to go shovel the snow. I know Jonas was really excited to do so, and secretly, I think Jeff enjoyed it too. To be honest, Jonas really wanted to go sledding, but it was still snowing so we were able to convince him to wait until the next day, but as soon as he was home from school, he was racing down the little hills in our backyard. I, on the other hand, was more than happy to warm up a cup of cider, throw on some fuzzy socks, and enjoy the warmth and soft glow of the Christmas lights inside.