One Year Ago,Christmas and Loss

Our lives changed forever when my father-in-law passed into glory. He suffered greatly from COPD,dementia and a cracked hip. We had no idea then that we would be selling our house and moving to Arizona.
That first Christmas without Dad was painful but I'm sure it was worse for my dh Tim. He made sure Christmas for us was as normal as we could possibly be though. I think experiencing grief during the holidays is excruciating. I like to pray for those involved in Hollywood and this year many passed away so I know their families are feeling the loss of their loved ones during this time of year.
There were, that because we were going through our own grief, I didn't even know were gone. People like Patty Duke, Delores Roberts, and Prince. I want to remember their families in prayer.

So here it is Christmas time in our new home. It's a little weird because at our old house in CA we decorated with some of the same decorations and each decoration had it's special place in the home.
When Tim brought in the Christmas boxes we started going through them but we weren't sure where to put things because it just wasn't the same.
I watched a YouTube video recently of a old Hallmark commercial that aired during the Hallmark Hall of Fame movies. The commercial was about a little boy and his family spending their first Christmas in their new home. He was all concerned about where things were going to go. Anyway, his mom shows him some of the ornaments they had collected that held special meanings. The commercial ends with the little boy saying "I'm glad we brought Christmas with us."
So we brought Christmas with us. We have put our decorations in new places. We have a beautiful nativity wall hanging that used to hang by our front door in the entry so that it would be the first thing people saw when they came in.
This year it is hanging over the wall flat screen TV rack that came with the house. We have a fireplace so now our stockings can hang on the mantel.  At our old house they hung on a wall in the entry outside the nativity wall hanging.

Even though things will never be the same, I'm so grateful that the Lord has brought us to this house. I'm am grateful we get to celebrate our Savior's birth here. Blessed be the name of the Lord!