the gift that keeps on givin’

Shadows of our love                         

Skipping, racing,

holding hands,

impromptu mini-dates

with my man

our time is short

but our love is big-

when we’re together

I wanna dance a jig 

We wanted to keep the evening simple. My in-laws came for a visit, and let’s face it- ain’t nobody got time to be in the kitchen all day. I am not the greatest cook, so I like to leave that to the “professionals”. I ordered everyone’s meal and got ready to pick it up from the restaurant.

“Let’s leave the kids here with mom and dad, and I’ll go with you to pick it up,”  my hubby says to me.

We packed in more fun in that short 20 minute date than I thought was possible.

On the way, we drove through the neighborhood and caught a glimpse of Christmas lights.  We picked up dinner and then my husband says we have to make one more stop.  Ice cream.

Nooo!!  We don’t need it!  I beg him.

But who am I kidding?  I can’t resist the allure of ice cream with my pecan pie.  So I pull into the grocery store parking lot because now, I can’t even imagine my pie without that darned ice cream.

We get out of the car and hold hands.

“Let’s skip!”  my husband says, with a smile on his face.  And we do.  All the way into the grocery store. “You can’t skip without smiling, you know!” Yes, he is right.  Skipping is the cure all for any scowl.

He leaves me to pick out sodas while he grabs ice cream.

Have I ever shared with you a little problem I have?  I get completely and totally overwhelmed by supermarkets.  Too many choices to make.  And I’m thrifty- so I am always balancing what I want with what I need… with what’s the best deal.  So I spot the A&W Root Beer… because duh… it’s the best soda ever.  But it’s not as cheap as some of the others.  Time stands still and I ponder what to do for what feels like an eternity.

My husband spots me from the end of the aisle and is chuckling at me.

“I just knew it!”  He says.  He knows me and my little idiosyncrasies all too well…

He grabs the A & W and puts it into the cart, without giving it a second thought. We pay for our items and as we reach the parking lot, I tell him “Race ya!”

I begin to run, but he does not.  As soon as I stop, he blows past me- clearly using trickery to cheat me out of the win.

And so our mini-date comes to an end. As we drove the short drive home, I thought about all the gifts that meant the most to me this Christmas season, and it wasn’t things at all. They were moments.  Moments spent with my loved ones like-

-having my mom spontaneously lead us in singing carols Christmas night

-saying the blessing for our Christmas dinner

-sitting with my Granny and watching her open presents

-being silly with my family…ALL of them!

 -text messages from loved ones

-driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway enjoying the company and scenery

-and stealing little moments away with my husband- like our mini-date- reminding me how much I love him!

Love-

it’s the gift that keeps on givin’!

Three things will last forever–faith, hope, and love–and the greatest of these is love.      

1 Corinthians 13:13