Put the Kleenex on High Alert

It doesn't get much better than snow glowing through Christmas lights, a warm fire, and snuggling under the blanket to read Christmas stories with hot chocolate and my babies.

Aaahhhh.

I will let that scene soak in while we pretend that hot chocolate never spills and there is no fighting about where people sit and who is hogging the blanket.

Bliss...

So, I'm sharing my favorite new-er Christmas book, You Are My Miracle.

My Aunt Dede gave this to us last year very casually. You know, she just sent it in the mail to Lilly and didn't mention that I'd need enough tissue for the free world just to get through it and that the kids would wonder why I was hyperventilating through the tears.

It isn't sad (that cute little bear doesn't die or anything) but the author amazingly and insightfully captures the parent-child relationship through Christmas imagery.

"I am your bundle up; you are my dash outside.
I am your uphill pull; you are my fast sleigh ride."

The illustrations are beautiful, but the words make me pause and consider the balance of a parent's responsibility and love for their child and the child's sometimes reckless, spontaneous, messy life. And the beauty of it all.

As a disclaimer, my kids are not exactly shoving this one into my lap to read all the time. They are more interested in Olive the Other Reindeer or Polar Express. But it is a keeper.

The other day while Lilly and I were gluing together a paper chain for the Christmas tree, I quietly heard Jackson open this book and start reading. So I asked him to read it for us.

Hearing these precious words read aloud and wrapped in the innocence of my five year-old's voice magnified their depth and truth.

Then I remember that I am far more complicated and unruly than a tangled wad of Christmas lights in the eyes of my Father. And he loves me just the same. Amazing.