As Thanksgiving ended we came home and I began to pack up the Thanksgiving decorations and unpack the Christmas decorations. As I did I found a small scrapbook that I have collected for the past 6 years, this year will be our 7th Christmas as a married couple, and in this scrapbook I have our annual Family picture and than behind it between the scrapbook pages I have kept the Christmas newsletter I have typed up for that year. As I was re-reading the letters to Dave and deciding what to say in this years letter I remembered back to how much our life has changed since our first Christmas.
We were living in Orem, Utah, and since we weren't students there weren't very many options of places to live and so we ended up renting a 1 bedroom apartment that had a furnished laundry room, for $660 a month (which the only place since we have been married we have paid that much or more is right now... $750 and we have twice the comforts). Dave was working full time at CompUSA and I was working full time at Roberts Arts and Crafts. We had two car payments, two cell phone payments since we were sucked into a contract, and 2 credit card payments. We lived pay check to paycheck and never had the money to go on dates. Our biggest thrill was packing a picnic and heading to the park for a date, or hitting up the 99cent menu at McDonalds or Taco Bell, which was still pushing it. So for our first Christmas we pinched our pennies took a rain check on paying one of our bills and had $50 to split between the two of us. It was probably the most depressing Christmas I have ever spent, especially since I had just the previous year been spoiled by my parents in getting everything on my list since I was one of 2 kids still living at home. It sure made me grateful for my wonderful parents sacrifice and for our future Christmas's together.
This is our tree, it was 4 ft tall and we had it for 4 years. I got it for $9 from Roberts because it was a pre-lit tree someone returned because half the lights didn't work. I replaced the lights and we were good. The stockings I got at the dollar tree, and the ornaments I got for really cheap from work and painted them. Most the the presents under our tree our from other family members.
Since we both worked retail jobs we weren't able to go back to Kennewick for Thanksgiving or Christmas. We spent Thanksgiving with Dave grandpa Mason in Salt Lake City, and spent Christmas Eve with my sister Cindy and her family that live in South Weber Utah. They had gone to Kennewick for Thanksgiving. They spent Christmas day with the other half of there family who were also there for Christmas Eve. It was great being able to be apart of there Christmas time, and feel loved and welcomed into there home. Im 5 mo pregnant with Sami and so I am just getting over my morning sickness and so eating a lot of food was hard on me.
With my nieces and nephew. Kate who is now 15, Blake who is 16 and Brooke who I want to say is 12 or 13. They sure have grown up... There youngest 3 siblings aren't pictures. Jack who was a toddler at the time, and Max was a baby. Him and Sami are a year apart. Max had been born in May before we got married. Jane well she isn't here because she wasn't born yet.
On Christmas Day we slept in and than when we got up it took us 10 min to open our presents. I had bought Dave Rocky for Christmas and my brother and his wife had bought us a card game for Christmas. So after getting ready for the day we watched the movie and played the game. And I made pizza for dinner. We did go and hang out with some friends during the day for a bit. We talked to family and I got extremely homesick. This was the first time I had been away from my family on Christmas, and in 7 years it has been the only time. I am sure there will come a time when we don't go anywhere but just stay home in the future but when that time comes I am sure our kids will be more than enough enjoyment for us to handle! That afternoon I got pretty depressed and me and Dave started talking about the next years Christmas and I mentioned that us staying in Utah we would never see our family for the holidays because the pass is always so bad and we were poor and would be for some years and so our kids would never know there extended family. We got to talking and decided we would work on moving back by next Christmas.
In December when I started feeling sorry for us that we were so poor I came across this talk from the December 2006 Ensign and I copied it off so I could have it to remember how bad it seemed and how things progressively got better. It amazes me after all these years how the spirit can hit home just when you need it too, I feel like that story was written for us, so we could know we weren't the only ones out there suffering.
I hope we all remember to keep the real meaning of Christmas in our hearts and not get bogged down about the gifts we want... but focus more on our families and the joy it brings... and just in general the who reason we celebrate this time of year. The Savior!
Our First Christmas
Christmas was coming, and it was obvious that my wife and I, who were newlyweds, were not going to have any money to buy a Christmas tree, ornaments, decorations, or a fine dinner.
We had started with no home, no jobs, and very little money. But God helped us. We found a small apartment, and I started looking for a job. I hadn’t finished my degree, so I took various sales jobs. My income was modest, just enough to pay for food and rent. I would leave home early; sometimes I would come back successful, sometimes not. If I was not, I would feel defeated, but my wife, who was pregnant, would greet me with a smile. Then the difficulties would seem less challenging.
In Mexico, Christmas Eve is celebrated even more than Christmas Day. When I was single, I celebrated by eating codfish and a salad that included beets, oranges, and peanuts. But this Christmas Eve we didn’t know what we would be having for dinner. We had a little money and a small gas stove fueled by a borrowed tank of gas. We didn’t have a refrigerator or furniture for the living room or dining room—just a little wooden table my grandmother had given me and a couple of chairs we had received from a friend.
As I thought about our situation, I became depressed. But I remembered that God never forsakes us, and I humbled myself like a child and went to Him in prayer.
My prayer was answered. I had peace in my heart and felt that all would be well. I opened the trunk of my car, and in one corner I found a small piece of dried fish. I remembered that several months before, I had helped my father move some fish, and this piece must have been left behind. Because of the salt it hadn’t gone bad.
I showed it to my wife, and she said she would cook it. We went to buy tomatoes and other ingredients. We washed the fish and soaked it to get the salt out.
That night, by the light of a small bulb, we sat at our little unpainted wooden table and remembered the birth of Jesus Christ and how He was born with even less than we had. We enjoyed the most delicious dinner I had ever eaten and went to bed early. The next morning we stayed in bed and watched Christmas movies. It was a very happy day. In our poverty the spirit of Christmas brightened our little home and gave us hope and courage.
In January our daughter was born, bringing more happiness into our home.
Many Christmases have come and gone since then, and we no longer lack decorations or a Christmas tree or the fragrance of pine. We have had many fine dinners with succulent dishes. But I cherish most the memory of our first Christmas together. It was the poorest in material things but the richest in things spiritual and eternal: just the two of us with our unborn daughter and the spirit of Christmas.
No comments:
Post a Comment