Expectations
Posted on Dec 04, 2019 by Toni Graham
Driving to my youngest daughter’s house for our traditional family Thanksgiving dinner, I was thinking about the prayer I would deliver and how wonderful the day would be. At some point we would hold hands and sing, circled around the Christmas tree just like the citizens of Whoville. Expectations rarely, if ever, live up to the hype in my head. First of all, one of my son-in-laws was asked to say the prayer. My three daughters and I had our typical strong-willed opinions that led to a few eye rolls and unasked-for opinions. The Whoville Choir decided to watch football.
Now we scurry toward Christmas with heartfelt expectations of “Peace and Goodwill”. You probably know where I’m going with this. So on Sunday I was asked to be interviewed by my 6-year-old grandson as part of a school assignment. My daughter Katie was videotaping. One of the questions was what is one of your favorite family traditions. I paused as I thought about this, and Katie said, Christmas Eve service. I had no idea. This was something that I enjoyed as a little girl. As my husband and I started our own family we continued the tradition, 8:00 candlelight services, ending with everyone singing together,
Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
'Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace.
This was not my expectation. For my daughter to recall this immediately solidified my resolve to return us all toward this family tradition again. I’m hoping that our new little generation of kiddos will have this beautiful memory someday. This is the kind of expectation that becomes reality, and the memory becomes part of a child’s story.
In God’s loving name,
Toni Graham
Child Care Coordinator