Daily Advent Devotion for December 23rd - Lesley Schoch



Family Is A Treasure
By Lesley Schoch


For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
~ Luke 12:34


As a little girl, our Christmas traditions were very defined. Every Christmas Eve, we each opened one present. When morning came I was up before the sun, begging to run into the living room to see what Santa brought and to open all the gifts which had been taunting me under the tree for weeks. Once we had torn through every package we would put on our most festive attire, load the car full of presents and head to my Knoxville Grandparents house. My two cousins and I always brought our favorite present and anxiously waited for the next round of gifts. After opening, we would have a delicious Christmas Lunch made by the hands of my Grandmother, Mary Lou. When we had devoured ham, angel biscuits, twice baked potatoes, garden green beans and “goop” (a pink fruit and fluff concoction my Grandfather named),  we hugged necks and hopped back in the car for the two hour drive to my Kentucky Grandparents House.

The drive to Hazard, Kentucky is embedded in my mind. Anticipation coursed through my veins as I watched the scenery whiz by the window. I have 9 cousins on my Moms side and the excitement of seeing them and playing with them for the next several days was more than I could bear. When we would arrive on Christmas Evening, my mother’s 3 siblings and their families would all be there waiting for us with hugs, hot chocolate and more presents! My sweet, little Mamaw Grace had an incredible turkey and dressing dinner prepared and after we all exchanged gifts we would stuff ourselves silly. Then my cousins and I would make beds on the floor of the guest room and talk and play until way too late.

Family is a treasure; a gift from God and our very making. I can’t really remember the presents, though there were many. But I do remember the people I love, the time we spent together, and what they mean to me. Now that I have a husband and children of my own, we have our own traditions. Some are from childhood like the Christmas Eve presents and waking up at the break of light on Christmas Morning. Some new, like Christmas Eve church and Pot Roast at my Brother-In-Law’s for Christmas Dinner.  No matter what we are doing at Christmas, holding my husband while watching my children's eyes sparkle in the lights of the tree and my parents adoring them fills me with joy. My God and my family are where my treasures are…and my heart is full.


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