"Silent Night"

Our sweet Eliot (notice that missing tooth!) not only PLAYED "Silent Night" on the piano for our Christmas Eve program this year, but he was also asked to give a brief talk about that hymn for our ward's Christmas Sacrament Meeting program. This is what Eliot shared about "Silent Night":

            A few weeks ago, as we were riding in the car, I got excited when I recognized the Christmas song playing on the radio.  It was “Silent Night,” the hymn we had been practicing in Primary.  My little brother and I listened quietly to the entire song.  My mom said it was a Christmas miracle that we sat so still for so long!

            Sometimes it’s hard to be still and quiet, especially at exciting times like Christmas.  But it’s important to be calm and still sometimes so that we can feel the Spirit.  The Holy Ghost speaks in a still, small voice.  If we are too busy or never take time to think quietly, we can’t hear the gentle promptings from our Heavenly Father.

            The hymn “Silent Night” reminds us that Jesus Christ’s birth was a holy, sacred night.  It uses words like “silent,” “peace,” and “calm” to remind us that we should be still and reverent as we think of Jesus’s birth.  Another Primary song I learned teaches that “If I listen with my heart I hear the Savior’s voice.”

 I know that if we will take the time to think quietly about the Savior this Christmas, we will feel the Holy Ghost. We will also feel close to Jesus and our Heavenly Father. They love us and want us to feel the heavenly peace that we sing about in the hymn “Silent Night.”

I was really proud of Eliot. He had very little fear about getting up in Sacrament Meeting and giving a talk, which, to this day, makes me anxious! He did a beautiful job and was complimented by lots of people. I think his talk perfectly describes my feelings about our Christmas Eve program -- though it's more than a little challenging to get our boys to sit still, we did have some of those magic moments happen where they actually did sit peacefully, and maybe, just maybe, even soaked in a bit of the true spirit of Christmas.

The boys opened their matching Christmas jammies first, and then we did our "Gifts to Jesus" activity. We watched the Church's "Nativity" video (that's then the boys surprised us by sitting still!), and then wrapped things up by singing "Silent Night," thanks to Eliot's accompaniment!  He did amazing! It amazes me how much he is learning in his music class.  

I love this picture of our family on Christmas Eve. We've gone back and forth for years on what would work best for celebrating Christmas Eve. Since both of our families are so close, it's so tempting to want to spend the evening with them. And I really miss my family's traditional program, but circumstances have changed, and it just gets to be too long and too hard on the boys to try to do it all. So we've learned to keep it simple and sweet, at least during this stage of life. For now, this works.

 

After the boys set out milk and cookies for Santa... 

and "magic dust" for the reindeer, it was off to bed.

I need to add here that probably my favorite moment of Christmas Eve was putting Zach to bed. I laid him down in his bed, rubbed his little cheek and said, "Merry Christmas." In a soft, sweet voice, he told me "Mehwy Cwismus" back and smiled up at me with the most angelic little face. There aren't photos to capture that moment, but it will be in my mind and heart forever!

Once the boys were down, mom and dad had to get to work wrapping gifts and filling stockings! 

I always take a few moments before going to bed to soak in the sight my boys will wake up to. I love it so much! And that anticipation is worth every ounce of long, tiring hours of of work, because it brings these faces the next morning:

THAT is pure Christmas joy!

I love them, and I love my Savior so much! I love getting to celebrate His birth and being a mom of little ones. I love that I am such an integral part of forming their happy childhood memories. I am growing to appreciate more and more each year the great sacrifice of my own mother in all the effort it takes to create the little details provide those magical moments my children will look back on and associate with this wonderful time of year. That kind of sacrifice -- the sacrifice of a mother, and the sacrifice our Savior was born to provide -- are what make this time of year so special to me. 

Merry Christmas!

P.S. Lest you mistakenly believe "all is calm" in our house at Christmas, the Band-aid on Zach's forehead is visual proof that life with little boys is always an adventure! Almost exactly a week before Christmas, Zach yanked on one of our stockings and pulled a heavy stocking hanger down on his head. It was very frightening at first, but ended up as only a "two-stitch" repair! Never a dull moment with Zachary! But I am happy to report that his breathing troubles have slowed way down and he's been really healthy. YAY!