Hymn for St. Nicholas

From every land and every age
We sing of those who bravely wage
The saintly fight with Spirit's sword
In mighty battle for the Lord.

Saint Nicholas the Shepherd true
Who brought his flock to faith anew,
Now by his prayers and faith secure
Draws us, for Jesus to endure.

Now we rejoice on this his day
For in his life, in Christ's sure way,
He saved thy children from their plight,
Defeated sin, put fear to flight.

And we, like sailors lost at sea,
Recall our saint, for surely he
Our patron, points us to the Lord
by whom all sinners are restored.

Now in this church we raise our cry
To God the King of Saints on high.
And pray that, with our Patron, we
May one day God in glory see.

It was a beautiful feast day this year.  We found another pair of authentic Dutch wooden shoes at the thrift store for $4 which made my heart sing, I tell you.  Then our college daughter assembled all the shoe stuffers for us. Even though we have been busy, between us we were able to make a nice morning.  

I commented to a young mom friend though that it's important to look at peaceful, artsy feast day celebrations with a balanced perspective.  Do not compare your spring to another's autum.  I don't have babies at home and have not for many years.  My baby just turned EIGHT years old.  Sigh.  

There are other reasons besides more available time and being well-rested that account for my ability to pull off creative feast days these days.  We are in good health right now.  We have spent 30 married years collecting statues and decorations – $4 or less at a time. It took a loooooong time.  For many years we were lucky to afford dollar store candy canes in their little tennies.  And that was wonderful in its own way.  I am not being facetious.  Oh, to have those tiny children back for an hour or two.  

Our priest has always encouraged us to cultivate fulfilling projects of our own.  He advised that the day would come when the children would be grown and we needed to have other satisfying ways to fill our hours.  That day has not completely come yet but we are definitely in transition.  There are no more hours in the rocker or pacing the floor with colicky infants.  There are no more night wakings nor need for constant vigilance with the outlets or the breakables or the household cleaners.  However, the trials bigger kids face are also not as easily fixed up.  I can't carry around a big twelve year old boy on my hip.  I can fill a shoe with the same favorite treats he has enjoyed for many December sixth's and thereby remind him that while the bigger world around him is ever changing and ever presenting him with new challenges, some things are foundational, fixed, unchanging.  You can count on them.  

It occurred to me that this is a way to embrace those big kids. To borrow a contemporary term – this is my love language.  Decorating and celebrating come easily to me.  I am not particularly skilled in areas other people find come easily to them.  I hope they are embracing their skill set and using it to show love in their own ways.  

That, after all, is the real point.  

The purpose of the task is to strengthen the relationship.  If decorating stresses you then it is not strengthening your relationships. It is straining them.  Go to Starbucks and have a peppermint latte instead.  Go to the library and pick up a Christmas book to share. Pack up that fussy baby and drive around looking at lights til she is asleep again.  

Just be you and be that well.

It should be understood that everyone in the family has a present for everybody else; these presents should be precious, though not in terms of money, as they should not be bought, but home-made. This is quite a task in a large family, but fingers become skilled in handicrafts of many kinds block prints, wood carvings, leather work, needle work, lettering with beautiful illuminations, and clay work. All these, and one's imagination, are called upon to create many beautiful, useful things, which could not be bought for money because they are made not only with the hands but also with the heart.

– Around the Year with the Trapp Family

Do we do this perfectly?  Not even close.  I am sharing my favorite advent and Christmas reads though because they give me a vision. 

My street is lined with flags planted by the boy scouts in the early morning hours today honoring those who have served our nation.  Some of them hold a special place in my affections.  Looking at these snapshots leaves me flooded with emotion. So many bits and pieces.  

My grandfather served in the US Army stateside in the second world war. My grandmother joined him for a time in California where they shared a three bedroom apartment with two other military couples.  

Think about that. 

He told the stories about escorting Desi Arnaz around post for the rest of his life.  He is shown with Gram, above, and his mother, a Slovenian immigrant, below.

My father-in-law enlisted in the USAF in the '60s. My husband was born on base in Verdun, France while he served there. 

Pictured below is my mother-in-law's wonderful, quiet husband who experienced the trauma that was Vietnam.  

A liberal pacifist young girl (me) married this handsome airman

(below)  in the 80's.  I did not go gently into the military world but rather was rebellious and argumentative much of the way.  Much.  I came to understand, respect, and revere the men and women he served with and their positions which had little or nothing to do with whomever currently held office, nor certainly for any love of war. 

Sometimes he served at home.  Sometimes we held down the domestic fort while he served in Korea or Cuba or Saudi Arabia or Iraq.  Sometimes he was here to rock babies every night.  Sometimes he had to reintroduce himself to his babies and start fresh.  

One of those babies grew up to wear his own uniform.  He is reaching the end of his current tour in Europe after serving in Korea and California.  He will finish his degree with the GI Bill he has earned being far from home for many, many years. 

There are stories behind every uniform.  Good stories.  Heartbreaking stories.  I love hearing them no matter where I might run across them.  Just days ago we found ourselves standing in an aisle at Walmart chatting with a 91yo gentleman.  He asked the children if they liked math.  Admittedly there was not an enthusiastic response.  He went on to tell them it was like playing piano. The more you practice the better it gets.  How nothing is more rewarding than dedication to hard things.  

He explained he was an engineer for nearly 60yrs. He had served in Korea and been sent to Singapore.  He returned and devoted himself to science and technology.  He had a full life which he credited to hard work and perseverance.  And he shared his story with us in the Walmart aisle because these things are important.  

I am grateful today for that legacy of quiet service. 

Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.   – Ronald Reagan