Reflections on your first Christmas

Dear Maelynn and Maggie,

It’s Christmas, but you two were already fast asleep when this letter was written.

In a few minutes, your first Christmas will be your first Christmas past.

You may not remember this, but your first Christmas was a blur.

You two were passed around to many a person in many a house who’d waited for you and your parents to finish the long drive home on Christmas Eve.

Everybody couldn’t wait to spend time with you.

You couldn’t wait to get out of your car seats.

Your faces lit up when you did, which made all of ours light up, too.

You two were held, hugged, kissed, talked to and loved more in those hours than I thought you’d be able to stand.

You and your parents deserved medals.

Both of you handled all of the cheek pinching, googly eyes and overly-high-pitched voices like champs.

Both of you got a pile of gifts, and both of you really liked all of the wrapping paper.

We all enjoyed playing with you and watching smiles suddenly burst onto your faces.

The time passed quickly, and all I could think about was how much of a difference a year makes.

What a difference a baby makes.

I’ve told you this story before, but Christmas 2015 was the day your parents told us you’d both make your entrances into the world.

I had never been given such a wonderful Christmas present.

I hardly remember my life before you, and I couldn’t imagine my life without both of you in it.

When I got to celebrate your first Christmas with you this year, it was just a reminder of how much I have to be thankful for and how much I have been blessed in the past year since we were told about you.

Your first Christmas also reminded me of the blessings of the first Christmas.

You two changed our lives for the better when you were born, but the baby born on the first Christmas changed the world.

His name is Jesus.

He loves you very much. One day He’ll change your lives too, when you’re ready to trust Him.

It’s kind of awe-inspiring to me when I think the hands which formed the world, the same hands which reached for a young mother on the first Christmas night, are the same hands which made you.

The same God who gave us a double blessing last Christmas had new ones for us this Christmas, the first time you celebrated His birthday.

I am already praying for you to quickly learn how much you are loved by the One who made you — the one whose first Christmas made such a difference the world has never been the same.
Love,