Home for the Holidays

Three down, one to go! Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas have come and gone, and New Years Eve will be the final holiday for 2009. I hope you all have enjoyed a wonderful year, filled with love from family and friends and memories that will last forever. I know I have. :) Holiday's are a bit different once you get married. Making an effort to visit both sides of our family these past couple years, we've traveled 4 hours from Alabama to visit my family in Florida, and then drove 8 hours from Florida to spend time with Josh's family in South Carolina (double the love, that's how I like to think of it). But, I've learned the meaning of sacrificing cherished time with family and the true value of holidays. You see, I come from a family of tradition. We had our Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years traditions. All which have been broken since I've been married and my sister has moved away to college. But, it's been a wonderful realization to escape all the "festivities" and really contemplate on the reason we celebrate anyway.

Jesus.

Christmas, His birth. And Easter, His death. Even  Thanksgiving, for me, is a celebration of thankfulness for what Jesus did on the cross. But the world has tried to cover up the true meaning, adding the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause to offer to those who aren't satisfied with the story of Jesus alone. "It's more fun to believe in the Bunny and Santa," I've heard people say. But not for me, it's more humbling and amazing for me to remember my Savior. His love story is the best in the world! And I pray our eyes will be opened to that.

Of course, it wasn't just marriage that made me realize this, but our 12+ hour car rides to visit family have definitely allowed me to ponder these things in my heart.