But this year, Danny and I had been traveling before Christmas. I went to Australia and American while Danny went to Japan, China and Hong Kong. So we were both quite busy and Christmas kinda took us by surprise. We drove from Christchurch to Nelson (5.5hr drive) on Christmas eve. By the time we got in, the supermarket in Richmond was closed.
But we decided that Christmas would still be ok without a turkey and all the other goodies that come with the occasion. After all, we still had each other. When we got to our house in Richmond, the house was empty but there was a Christmas tree :) Mum had put the tree up with her “granddaughter” (a family friend’s daughter). Once mum got home that night (she was at a wedding), we catch up with her and told her about our fun adventures overseas.
On Christmas morning, 3 of our employees from Blenheim (1.5hr drive away) came over to our place bearing gifts. They had cooked us a turkey and also had a Christmas hamper for us. It contained lots of Christmas treats. All we were missing now was Christmas Crackers. Well… I found a box of 12 Christmas Crackers hidden in the pantry that we had left over from a previous Christmas.
Our Richmond manager and her boyfriend joined us a bit later too. We all had lunch together. We didn’t have a shortage of food (one of the joys of being in the hospitality industries). I looked over at one of our chefs who was carving the turkey and said “wow, it’s beautiful. Looks almost like you’re a professional!” ;)
My family taught them the tradition of popping Christmas crackers together around the table. There’s an art to it, trust me. We had so much fun and everyone got into the spirit of it all. One of the boys had clip-on earrings in his cracker which we convinced him to wear. I told him he looked pretty. His girlfriend agreed.
It was great to spend time with them. I think that the most fantastic part of it was that they chose to spend time with us on such a day as Christmas. Yes… feel the love. Hehehe. Jack (my brother) managed to get into Richmond in time to hang out with us before we started clearing away the lunch. So all was well.
When they were preparing to leave, we were joined by a large group of family friends. They just came over to spend the later part of the afternoon with us.
In the early part of the evening, my family had time to relax and do our own individual things like talking to friends on the phone and napping. It was good to recharge before socializing with lots of people all over again.
We went over to a family friend’s for Christmas dinner at about 8:30. Since lunch on Christmas day is usually so big, they knew that no one would be hungry til quite late. Many members of my extended family were also there; a grandma, 2 uncles, 3 aunts and lots of cousins.
The family on the back porch
The Poppy Thai Restaurant crew (plus Tiger our cat) in the front yard
My Grandma and I just before xmas dinner
So Christmas was filled with food, family, friends and fun. At the end of the day, I felt a little unfufilled though. I didn’t feel that Jesus had been honored by the day that was coming to its end. The main reason for Christmas was lost by all (or most) of those whom I had spent the day with. What was also sad was that I was partly guilty of ignoring the reason too. I think that the fundamental reason for Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus; a baby who was born approx 2000 years ago to a virgin girl. A baby who would later grow to be a sinless man and save the world. So simple, yet so often neglected. I felt such better (and satisfied) after spending some time with God in prayer and honoring Him. As for my family and friends; I’ll continue to pray for them.
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