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Paul

Marriage Situation: Help for the Holidays

Soon, Paul and I will be heading to Michigan to spend the holidays with his family. While there, we will be celebrating “Thanksmas.”  That’s the squashed together event that is intended to combine the best of Christmas and Thanksgiving—both very important days in the familial calendar : ). I’d say that on the whole, we do a pretty good job of including all of the salient features of each holiday—the turkey dinner, long conversations over coffee, the decorated tree, the family picture (and oh, I know all the men of the family love that part the best!!), opening presents and singing….lots and lots of joyful multi-part harmony singing. It’s great.  I love being part of such an exuberant family. The boys get to spend quality time with cousins (learning and teaching each other how to be better sinners:-), and Paul and I enjoy the hours of thought-provoking and/or hilarious conversations with parents and siblings.


And yet, as with every year that we’ve gathered, there will be some inevitable snafus. One fateful year it was a malevolent stomach/intestinal flu that struck 80% of the Snyder family population—that was probably the most memorable Christmas as far as ill-fortune went.


Usually things go wrong on a much smaller scale. A burnt side dish, a spilled bottle of pop (please note the mid-western vernacular “pop!” Just for this post!), bickering children, a knocked over Christmas tree, prodigious drool from a gigantic dog, energetic discussions that could perhaps border on arguments, or any number of small annoyances that tend to plague every gathering of many people in one house. At times, one might step back during the moments of pandemonium and wonder what happened to the idyllic family gathering of  mere seconds before (such as one would see during a holiday movie on the Hallmark channel). Could this chaotic assembly of disgruntled people (such as one would see during a Christmas episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond” : ) be the same people. Of course, those moments are sure to pass, but phew, sometimes they are doosies.


A few years ago, Paul and I discussed the holidays and the peculiar frustrations associated with large family gathering. Since we will soon be heading off to enjoy the familial festivities, we thought it would be helpful to review (for ourselves first) some pertinent ways of bringing a servant’s heart to the holiday celebrations.


You’ll have to wait till tomorrow for the tips, but for fun…I will include a before and after family picture. Can’t you see how much everyone loves the picture-taking process? Just look at the blurred image of Brenn! Unfettered joy I tell you. And I can only imagine the happy thoughts that are forming in Bryan’s head at the moment : )

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