Merry Christmas!

We are so very blessed to wish you and yours a very Merry CHRISTmas!

This past month, I saw a banner at a local church that read

 Giving Presence 

I love this simple message.  In a culture that is consumed with giving presents, we focus on the things of Christmas. What would happen to our Christmas traditions if we focused on the gifts of presence?  What would the holidays feel like if we focused on the time we shared with people verses the things wrapped and under the tree?

Jayden's class put on a program for us yesterday by sharing "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" poem with all the parents.  I think that the Grinch points to the need for a change:

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,

Stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so?”

“It came with out ribbons! It came without tags!”

“It came without packages, boxes or bags!”

And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!

“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.”

“Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!”

And what happened then? Well…in Whoville they say,

That the Grinch’s small heart Grew three sizes that day!

The Grinch was right.  Christmas will come without all the packages, boxes and bags.  And, although, we are very blessed to have gifts (and, I don't think our kids are quite ready for a gift-less Christmas), we are moving towards a Christmas of simply being in each others presence.

As a part of our holiday season of being more present, you may have received a kinda tacky Christmas postcard from our family.  But, I used my normal Christmas card prep time to play with the kids a few games of Blockus and make a new dessert recipe with Emma.  Instead of a big Christmas platter of home baked goodies to send to work with Brian, we watched a few Christmas movies together and walked the new puppy.  It isn't perfect....but, we are working on giving one another the gift of presence not only this season but throughout the year.

May our hearts grow this season of Christmas by sharing the Gifts of Presence with one another. And, we look forward to each and every opportunity that may come our way in 2012 to share your presence here (our home is always open to company!) or bring our presence to you!

To catch up on each of the Roeslers, please click on their name above for their blog page.

Merry Christmas & A Blessed New Year,

Brian, Tobi, Isaac, Emma,

Hannah & Jayden