This Is Christmas

Christmas this year was a little tougher than last year, but not as tough as the year before.  First of all, I cannot believe this is my third Christmas without Hailey here.  I’m not sure why, but that realization really scares me.  We missed Christmas with Hailey when she was three because she passed away in August, almost one month after her third birthday.  I never got to see her when she was finally old enough to get excited about the all the lights, Santa, Elf on a Shelf, presents, etc.  So as mentioned in my last blog, seeing Ava’s excitement as she experienced these things kept reminding me of what I missed out on with Hailey.

I was feeling quite sorry for myself and really focusing on the fact that Hailey wasn’t here until one night at my grief group.  One of my great friends, who I’ll leave nameless for privacy, played a song that touched my heart like none other.  It's called, This Is Christmas, by Chris Kutless. Almost instantly it changed my entire attitude towards Christmas and the fact that Hailey wasn’t physically here to celebrate with us.  While listening to this song, the spirit spoke very strongly to my heart and made me realize that the reason I was missing Hailey so much is because I was only focusing on the secular part of Christmas…Santa, lights, the elf, presents…and not the true meaning of Christmas – Jesus Christ.  It’s all because of that most perfect of all gifts ever given to any human being that I will be able to be with Hailey again one day.  It’s because of the gift of Christ that my daughter still lives!  It dawned on me that if I started focusing on that aspect of Christmas, the true reason for the holiday no matter what anyone else claims, there would really be no reason to feel sad.  In fact, there would only be reason to feel hope and joy!

Now don’t get me wrong.  I still missed her and thought of her being with us often, but it wasn’t that same ‘woe is me’ feeling.  Below, I attached a link to the song, which is now my absolute FAVORITE Christmas (and maybe favorite song of all time).  Please take a minute to listen to/watch it, even though Christmas is over.  It’s kind of more pop/rock…not classical or a hymn.  I’m not kidding when I say it gives me chills every time I hear it.  

I am so grateful for the gift of my Savior and what that means for Hailey and me in the future.  I honestly don’t know how I would have ever made it this far “without” her if I didn’t have the knowledge of being able to be "with" her again.  From now on, I will be focusing primarily on the true reason for Christmas and putting everything else secondary.

(Scroll to the bottom for the song and lyrics.) 

Some pictures of our family at Christmas:

At Hailey's Place.

(Me faking a smile, before the ever big life changing song!)

Our family on Christmas Day

(Me smiling so big, after the ever life changing song!)

 Click here to listen & watch the song: This Is Christmas by Chris Kutless

(You can also read the lyrics while the song plays on the video connected to the link above...I copied them exactly as they are written there, but I encourage you to listen because the lyrics alone don't do the song justice.)

Do you find it hard to sleep tonight

Resting by the Christmas lights

Could there be something you forgot

Beyond the bows and mistletoe

The tree with presents wrapped below

There’s more to this than

you had ever thought.

Have we lost the reason

that we celebrate each year?

What is Christmas

If there never was a Savior

wrapped in a manger

What is Christmas without Christ

Remember how the story goes

God’s greatest gift was wrapped

in swaddling clothes

Beneath the star one

great and holy night

The shepherds heard the angels sing

And wise men brought

an offering

Peace on earth began in Bethlehem

Have we lost the reason that

we celebrate each year

What is Christmas

If there never was a Savior

wrapped in a manger

What is Christmas

If the angels never sang,

glory to the new born King

What is Christmas without Christ

There’d be no

Gloria…. in excelsis deo

Gloria…. in excelsis deo

What is Christmas

If there never was a Savior

wrapped in a manger

What is Christmas without Christ

This is Christmas it’s all about a

Savior wrapped in a manger

This is Christmas because

of Jesus Christ.

This is Christmas because of

Christ, because of Christ.

 

The First Day of Primary

Well I know it’s been quite a while since I’ve last written, not because I don’t have a million things to write about, but more because I have to be in a certain frame of mind or emotional state to really express my feelings or experiences.  I have to be inspired at the moment and have a quiet, uninterrupted place to sit down and really think about how I want to put what I’m feeling into words.  Let’s just say, with a new baby, the holidays, sicknesses, etc., I haven’t had many of those moments lately.  In some ways it’s a good thing because it means I’m keeping busy, but in others, not so good because it means things are piling up that I want to write about.  I will say that I write the best blogs ever in my head while lying awake in the middle of the night!  Unfortunately, I never have the energy to actually get up and write them and then by morning life starts again and the moment is over.  So, one of my New Year’s resolutions is to really work on keeping up with my blog.  For some ridiculous reason, I actually thought there would come a point when I wouldn’t have anything left to say.  Who knows, maybe that is the case, but it’s definitely not yet…even after two and half years.

I had an experience today that caught me completely off guard and gave me a profound and somewhat scary realization.  So I’ll start with that.  Unfortunately that means I’m going to have to back track a little for my subsequent blogs, which I don’t like to do because the experience has already passed and the feelings aren’t as strong, but hopefully my New Year’s resolution will help me avoid that in the future.

Now, after that nice long introduction let tell you about today.  In the LDS church when children turn three they enter a program called Primary.  There is a junior primary for children ages 3-8 and senior primary for children ages 9-12. The children start their new classes at the beginning of each year.  Also, once or twice a year the whole primary gets up in front of the congregation where they sing and give little talks and read scriptures.  The singing part is the best…especially on Mother’s Day!

I remember having a really hard time the first day that Hailey was supposed to move up to Primary.  She would have been with Lexi in junior primary for a couple years.  Lexi LOVES being a big sister and couldn’t wait to have Hailey with her.  (Although, I think it affected me way more than her.)  Then came the first time they all got up and sang, which happened to be on Mother’s Day.  What should have been a sweet, joyous experience was exactly the opposite for me.  To say it was borderline excruciating would probably be an understatement.  I had to stay because Lexi was up there and I needed to be there for her, but I think I had tears pouring down my cheeks the entire time as I watched what would have been Hailey’s class waving at their moms so proud and excited as they sang away.  My heart just ached.

Well today was Ava’s first day of Primary.  I was really excited for her, until I dropped her off.  I walked out of the room and then peeked in the window to see her sitting right up front with her little class of 3-year olds.  Then, all of a sudden, it literally hit me like a ton of bricks.  I started having flashbacks of what should have been Hailey’s first day.  I felt my stomach turn and my eyes start to burn with tears.  Quickly, I made my way to the bathroom, stood in a stall, and kept telling myself to pull it together.  After a few minutes, I walked out to find Sean standing there.  I think he could sense my pain because he immediately offered to take me home and come back and get the kids later. 

On the way home I was telling him how surprised I was at the unexpected emotions that came flooding up.  As I watched my sweet little Ava sitting there I went from seeing the back of her head, to the back of Hailey’s head, to the back of her head, and so on…if that makes any sense.  For some reason the past few months have been particularly hard for me.  I feel like my grief is all fresh and new again, especially during the holidays.  This Christmas was much harder than last Christmas.  (That’s a whole other blog I’m going to write.)  Anyways, that’s when my big, profound realization hit me.  Ava is now Hailey’s age.  Everything she is doing and experiencing is a reminder to me of what I’ve missed out on with Hailey...Christmas lights, Santa, Christmas morning, preschool, primary, the first time she gets up and sings at church, and so on. 

I wasn’t prepared for this new found trial in my grief.  I thought that as time went on it would continually get easier, so I was completely unprepared for how hard its been the last few months.  It’s very rare that I cry in front of people, but there have been many times I’ve had to shove the pain way down deep lately so I wouldn’t break down.  I couldn’t figure out why it was all so fresh again, until today.

So now I’m stuck with trying to figure out this whole new phase I’m going through and may possibly go through for a long time because from this point forward everything that Ava does and every milestone she marks will be one more I’ve missed with Hailey. My biggest concern is figuring out how to avoid allowing my sadness for Hailey to overcome my joy for Ava.  I need to find a way to enjoy all those exciting things Ava will experience just as fully as if Hailey were still here.  I love my children so much and the last thing I would ever want is to feel like I slighted one of them out of an amazing experience because I allowed my grief to take over.  Not to mention, I know Hailey would hate that too. I guess that means I’m going to be spending a lot more time on my knees praying for strength.