Christmas in Kingman

Christmas for a traveler has to be about more than family.  It helps us to focus on the reason for the season - the birth of Christ Jesus.  We do definitely thank God for our travel-church family.  It is so incredibly important to our "survival" as travelers to go to any town and find like-minded brothers and sisters in Christ.

Now, don't get me wrong, we love everything about the Christmas season.  I will always love the (almost) fantasy of Santa Claus since it's based on St. Nicholas, the patron Saint of children.  But I love the Christmas animations with Rudolph and the Grinch and Frosty the Snowman.  I love the holiday songs and the Christmas carols.  I love the joy of small children on Christmas morning.

For most of the past five years, however, Christmas has been just the two of us.  Gift-giving to the children and grandchildren has been a long distance thing.  We rest easy in the knowledge that our sons and their wives have created their own Christmas traditions.  We pray earnestly that they not get lost in the trappings (literally) of the season, and that they all remember the birth of Christ as the reason for the loving of everyone.

We've had to forgo the giant Christmas tree with family-tradition ornaments.  (See our blog post
http://thetravelerstwo.blogspot.com/2013/12/a-2-foot-christmas.html )  We've found small artificial trees, hoping to fit them into the car and take home.  We've gotten a good collection of them going now!  This year is no exception.

And, yes, there are a few new ornaments Granpa has picked up that will become traditional as of next year.

This particular tree reminds me of when our oldest son was away from home on Christmas - in Afganistan! - and I mailed him a similar tree.  He said everyone on base, regardless of their country of origin, appreciated the bright, sparkly tree. This year it is we who are in the land of sand and cactus and tumbleweeds.  And THAT reminds me of a childhood Christmas when Momma couldn't afford to buy a tree of ANY size or kind.  Being the creative lady that she is, she stacked up a bunch of tumbleweeds, spray painted them silver, and THAT was our Christmas tree.  All four of us children thought nothing of the poverty - only the joy our momma always managed to create no matter what.  Momma is a what some folks would call a Great Lady.

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