Not to sound cliche, but our Christmas was so 2020, yet we found ourselves grateful for rituals in the midst of caution. 
Since we live within blocks of family, we did a pot luck brunch but ate at our separate homes via Zoom. For Christmas eve, we watched Handel's Messiah on youtube as performed by the community chorus of Fredericksburg. We watched our local church's Christmas Eve candlelight service on the couch (BJ said it felt like we were tailgating), and we closed out the evening with Daddy Doug reading The Littles Angel on Zoom. An advantage of 2020 is that we now have a recording of it.
Since we live within blocks of family, we did a pot luck brunch but ate at our separate homes via Zoom. For Christmas eve, we watched Handel's Messiah on youtube as performed by the community chorus of Fredericksburg. We watched our local church's Christmas Eve candlelight service on the couch (BJ said it felt like we were tailgating), and we closed out the evening with Daddy Doug reading The Littles Angel on Zoom. An advantage of 2020 is that we now have a recording of it.
The girls enjoyed their presents from Santa, and the best part is seeing their excitement to give gifts. 
We socially distanced for our family gift-giving, then had a nice dinner with just the four of us. We spent part of our Christmas day "face timing" with our dear friend Marian, whom the girls call Mum Mum... She is in her 80's and she shared with us all the ways technology makes her feel connected and engaged. She puts pictures of her iphone to make movies and that inspired me! So, here is my collage slide show.
We sure do miss our family in Texas, and it would be decadent and hedonistic to focus on our own celebrations with such senseless destruction in Nashville on Christmas morning. How do we balance joy with the suffering of the world? I take note from Paul's letters to the Hebrews with advice to be "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author, and perfecter of faith." May the light of Christ candle we lit on Christmas eve shine in our hearts and in our hands for longer than just this season. 
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