Love at Christmas 🎄

Joyeux Noël 🎄 Merry Christmas🎄Feliz Navidad🎄Afehyia pa 🎄 Vrolijk Kerstfeest (just cos I find myself this beautiful Christmas night enjoying a delicious meal in an amazing Belgian restaurant, so forgive my Dutch 😜 and forgive the very plain language you’re about to read in this episode…I have no energy for finesse and fine language 😜

Growing up, Christmas was the period of carols, “Jesus films”, a new dress, a new pair of shoes with a hat, not forgetting, lots of biscuits and drinks at home with chicken and so much more …this new generation definitely has no idea the kind of excitement they’ve missed out on…

I remember my first Christmas present- it was from my distant cousin, Fiifi…I had gone to grannie’s for Christmas , like we usually did…and he had also come to his grams’…I don’t remember how old I was, but I think I was somewhere 9-11 years old. We attended the carols night service on Christmas Eve and had an amazing time singing all those beautiful Christmas hymns, watching a Christmas play beautifully put together by the youth fellowship – lots of music and dancing. What is the Methodist church without its music!

Then arrived the time for gifts to be shared. The norm was that all the gifts were collected in baskets and then names were mentioned from the front, and you had to walk to the front to collect your gift. How weird!

Somewhere along the line, my name was mentioned… I was shocked, to say the least, but I walked to the front and collected it.

I opened it when I got home only to realize it was a singing note book from Fiifi! How thoughtful of him!

Let’s fast forward, shall we? Many years have gone by and I’ve always been one to easily give gifts to people…on their birthdays, anniversaries…and even randomly…and maybe this year’s Christmas has taught me why I did.

I have always known my first love language was words of affirmation, then quality time. And then physical touch, in that order. Little did I know receiving gifts mattered more to me even than physical touch !

After many years of barely receiving Christmas gifts, this year, I have been pleasantly surprised by a few loved ones going all out to send me a gift or two, and it has been a highly emotional time for me. I received one of the gifts and for many minutes, I just sat there, crying. Crying over the thoughtfulness of the person who had sent me the gift…crying because of the distance the gift had travelled and the sacrifice I know the person might have made to put a smile on my face….crying because the gift and the message that came with it was simply warm! Another gift came as a total shock to me! Lol… « here be wayside…I no fit explain plenty » lol…

Here is the thing…I never knew how much receiving gifts meant to me till I started to receive them. So it’s actually a love language I probably understood all this while and spoke, hence me giving myself gifts, and other people as well…especially the people I would have loved to receive gifts from…. It’s taken many years for these people, unfortunately, to understand this is a language I speak and understand too well. But can I really blame them? I am a woman of many colours…lol

Find out what love language your partner speaks this season and speak it to them…show them love in a way that makes sense to them, instead of thinking of what is convenient for you to do for and with them. Every day can be Christmas…do not wait for December 2025…they may have shut their hearts to you…

« For God so loved the world, that He GAVE his only begotten son…. »John 3:16a

Because God loved, He gave….He showed His love in a way that we actually needed it…We needed a saviour. We needed someone to give us hope. We needed someone who would break the veil and make us, the Gentiles also partakers in the goodness and Kingdom of God. The world might not have realized how much it needed Jesus. Heck, it still doesn’t….but God giving us Jesus is actually what we need!

So merry Christmas, family! Love without holding back this season and beyond…and show love in a tangible way to your partners, families and friends, your enemies also. « I love you » said with only the mouth no fit go market.

Sending lots of love and warm wishes even though I’m sleeping in a cold bed…alone…

I may be alone…but I am content. Happy. Loved.

~ Rosario