"The Cattle are Lowing"

I love Christmas time. Trees and lights, presents under the tree in a warm house. Hot chocolate by the fire with the ones I love.  I must admit that I even use wrapping paper with glitter on it, much to my husbands displeasure. It's all just so cozy. The love that fills homes and families, the closeness of being together.  How I wish I could pause the beauty of the Christmas season and let it linger just a bit longer. 

But every morning I must leave the hot chocolate and presents behind. One step at a time my Muck boots carry me out the door. Out the door into the cold, into the stress, into the busy. Into a world of animals and people that don't recognize how much I have on my list to accomplish by December 25th. 

But it's out this door that I find things that fill me with as much warmth as any Christmas lights ever could.

I find a happy cow, warm and dry.

I find a bucket of steaming, warm milk to feed calves.

Kisses.

A sleepy kitty.

A curious face.

Ice crystals in the dirt.

Perseverance.

Laughter.

Something that makes me stop in my tracks.

New concrete.

Constant companions.

A tolerant baby.

Christmas. I find Christmas.

There in the dark, in my dirty clothes, without having all my presents wrapped yet I remember how to enjoy Christmas. 

So I gladly dust off the glitter, put on my boots, and take my hot chocolate to go.  

After all...

"Away in the manger 

No crib for his bed

The little Lord Jesus

Lay down His sweet head

The stars

In the bright sky 

Look down where he lay

The little Lord Jesus

Asleep on the hay"