Decorating for Christmas is a fun task. Taking down the decorations is an un-fun task.

This past weekend my wife, Pam, and I finished taking down the tree and lights and ornaments and manger scenes and Santa dolls and candles and greenery. Everything is packed away in anticipation of Christmas 2011. But, as we were putting things away I began to recall all of the great events that occurred around celebrating Jesus’ birthday.

My best memory was our Christmas day surprise. Our son and his fiancé planned on having lunch and spending the afternoon at our house. Completely unknown to Pam and I was the fact that on the way over, they went by the airport and picked up our daughter, son-in-law and grandson who had just arrived from Dallas, Texas! And, then, to top it all off, we got 6 ½ inches of snow! The time we celebrated together with snowball fights and snowman building and eating and playing games and sharing life, are memories that we did not pack away. Instead, we will keep un-wrapping them all year long.

That first Christmas was a big surprise as well. It also is one that we keep on un-wrapping on a regular basis, as we continue to discover God’s incredible gift of love.

But, with all of that said, taking down the decorations is still an un-fun task!

Les Robinson January 2011