Eddie Walker Simple

TODAY’S CHRISTMAS FORECAST: SIMPLE

Bob and I got engaged 17 years ago in November of 1997. That year we spent a great deal of time carefully picking out Christmas decorations together. He and I shared a vision from those first purchases that we would be creating Christmases for our family for years to come. I laugh now thinking about how seriously we took those first buying decisions. It was as if we believed we could preserve all our future happiness with the items we bought. That particular year, we both fell in love with a designer, Eddie Walker, who made carvings that reflected a simpler, country way of life. Her figurines are all retired now, but over the first few years of our marriage, Bob and I would collect many of them together.

Over the years, our tastes changed dramatically, and we opted for more modern expressions of the Christmas season. The Eddie Walkers found their way to back bedrooms or to the downstairs family room. Some years I just didn’t unwrap them at all. This year, however, I found myself desperately longing for those days when things were so much simpler. As I dug through the Christmas boxes and bins in the basement, I lovingly unwrapped those Eddie Walkers. I took them upstairs and placed them in plain sight for all to see who visit us this holiday. It was just one step, but in giving those figures a prominent place in our home, I felt like I was taking back a lost tradition from a time where dreams were big and expectations were few. Life already seemed a little bit simpler.

The question I had to ask myself was, “Why shouldn’t it be?” The birth of the child we’re celebrating was far from grandiose. The King of Kings was wrapped in nothing more than a cloth and laid among stable animals. Other than the gifts that the Magi bestowed upon Him, everything else was as simplistic as it could be. If such humble beginnings were good enough for the Prince of Peace, shouldn’t it be for us as well? In this age of instant gratification and constantly doing, isn’t Christmas the perfect time to catch our breath and find reasons to experience a bit of nostalgia and peace? Unfortunately, most of us do the exact opposite this time of year. I know I stand guilty as charged. I worry about the right decorations, the right gifts, the right food, the right time to go to church, the right outfit for each Christmas party. I become a product of my surroundings, a frazzled, hot mess! This year, I decided to take it back a notch. I did a lot of shopping online. I limited the number of social commitments we made, I even took Christmas dinner with extended family from a traditional, formal, sit-down to a finger foods and sandwiches party.

So I ask you, how can you simplify your holiday this season? Do you have your own version of our Eddie Walkers that you can dust off this Christmas? Or maybe you have a traditional recipe your family used to make when you were younger that you haven’t made in years. Maybe it’s turning off the phone for a few hours each evening or simplifying a usually complex meal. Whatever it is for your family, I hope that you can recover a bit of nostalgia this Christmas season that will help you to de-stress and remember a simpler time of joy and love. God bless you all and Merry Christmas.