family time | My Everyday God

Taking selfies with my son

We woke up late, enjoyed breakfast, snuggled on the couch and watched movies all Saturday morning. My family needed a lazy, restful day, and were finally recuperating after a long week.

Jackson rested on my lap toward the end of the movie, and we watched cheek-to-cheek. Afterward, he gave me a hug and asked me if we could take a picture together.

I hesitated. I looked awful! My hair was a mess, I hadn’t showered and I was sporting sweats. Why in the world would he want a picture with me?

I looked into his eyes ready to say no, and then told him to get my phone. He didn’t care about how I looked. He just loved me. He wanted to capture this special moment together.

Looks don’t matter. Love does.

When Jackson grows up, he’s not going to look back and remember my frumpy style or my body shape, he’s going to think about how he was loved. It won’t be about how much I had it all together, how clean the house was or how much money I earned a year. He will remember us laughing together, snuggling, spending time with each other and how dearly I loved him.

So, we took those pictures. We giggled and made funny faces. We hugged.

We loved.

We sure can be silly! 🙂

The kids settle in under the blanket fort for family movie night.

Our Advent Scripture passage for today is Luke 1:39-45.

In those days Mary set out and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah where she entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped inside her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she exclaimed with a loud cry:

“You are the most blessed of women, and your child will be blessed! How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me! She who has believed is blessed because what was spoken to her by the Lord will be fulfilled!”

One of the greatest blessings of our Christmas Countdown this year is that we have prioritized daily time together as a family. The month of December rushes toward Christmas, and it can be easy to blitz through holiday parties, concerts, cookies and shopping trips and miss what matters most. This has been the most wonderful Christmas season for me because of the way God has knit our family even closer as we read the Bible and enjoy meaningful time together.

Tonight, our activity wasn’t fancy. We built a fort in the living room and watched a movie in our pajamas. My arm went numb laying under that blanket tent and snuggling with the kids, but I wouldn’t have changed a moment.

How are your prioritizing your family this Christmas? Don’t let the busyness of this time of year rob you of the joy and God’s blessing of simply being together.