Stories by the tree.....

Sadly, all of our Christmas books are in storage....somewhere at the bottom of a huge pile of boxes. Christmas books are such a treasure to me, we have made so many special memories reading together. Last year I bought an Advent Children's' Book and I remember how excited Emma was to sit down and read the next page of the story each day.

Just yesterday morning I purchased this book from Lifeway.....and the timing couldn't have been better. I didn't tell Emma I was going to buy a Christmas book and in fact she hasn't even brought up the fact that our other Christmas books are missing. But, when I picked her up from school yesterday she began to get really sad. She started singing the song, "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and it made her remember one of our special books we read every year. I then had to explain that they were all in storage and it was going to be impossible to get them out this year but that we'd have them again next year. She really teared up but understood. It was so precious......I knew how much it always meant to me to share these stories with her but I didn't know she treasured it just as much. Well, after dinner last night I told her to clean up toys in the living area and make room by the tree for us to all sit down and that I had a surprise for her. She was so excited and anxious to know what was going on. We lit a candle and everyone sat down and I brought her this book. She smiled the biggest smile and her eyes just lit up. And SHE read this book to us under the tree. It was priceless. One of our best Christmas memories yet. What a precious gift we have in our children. They are wonderful reminders of enjoying the simple things in life. This quiet time under our beautifully lit Christmas tree is a time I wouldn't trade for anything.