{"id":3874,"date":"2013-12-24T03:03:11","date_gmt":"2013-12-24T08:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/?p=3874"},"modified":"2013-12-24T15:03:10","modified_gmt":"2013-12-24T20:03:10","slug":"twas-the-night-before-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/12\/twas-the-night-before-christmas.html","title":{"rendered":"Twas the Night Before Christmas&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><a href=\"It was the night before Christmas and all through the house,  Not a creature was stirring, but I felt like a louse!  As I gazed at the packages all in a row, I was aghast!  The tree looked bulimic due to my past. I slumped to the floor and grabbed hold of my man,  We have only two children. There\u2019s enough here for ten!  We stared at the swollen piles of toys Surely this is too much for one girl and boy!  Slowly we picked through the huge swollen pile, This one can wait for a little more while.   One for next year, maybe one for a treat,  Whittling the stack, our eyes again meet,   We came to our senses,  We lessened the gifts. Enough was still there No one would get miffed!  Next year, we pledged Will be different you\u2019ll see We\u2019ll keep it in balance  When on Santa\u2019s knee.  The season is known for its gift giving treats But Christ was born, to sin\u2019s great defeat.  The baby asleep in that manager so small Would bring to us peace and joy for all.   Our children will know the true meaning of this,  A Christmas where Christ is truly our bliss. So gather around that more sensible tree And remember, Jesus, was born for you and for me.    \"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3875\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2012\/12\/Blue-Christmas-Tree.jpg\" width=\"283\" height=\"400\" \/><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>Not a creature was stirring, but I felt like a louse! <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>As I gazed at the packages all in a row, I was aghast! <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>The tree looked bulimic due to my past.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>I slumped to the floor and grabbed hold of my man, <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>We have only two children. There\u2019s enough here for ten!<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>We stared at the swollen piles of toys<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>Surely this is too much for one girl and boy! <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>Slowly we picked through the huge bulging pile,<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>This one can wait for a little more while.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>One for next year, maybe one for a treat, <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>Whittling the stack, our eyes again meet, <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>We came to our senses, <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>We lessened the gifts.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>Enough was still there<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>No one would get miffed!<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>Next year, we pledged<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>Will be different you\u2019ll see<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>We\u2019ll keep it in balance <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>When on Santa\u2019s knee.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>The season is known for its gift giving treats<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>But Christ was born, to sin\u2019s great defeat. <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>The baby asleep in that manager so small<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>Would bring to us peace and joy for all. <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>Our children will know the true meaning of this, <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>A Christmas where Christ is truly our bliss.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>So gather around that more sensible tree<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>And remember, Jesus, was born for you and for me. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">By Dr. Linda Mintle<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Remember the reason for the season!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, but I felt like a louse! As I gazed at the packages all in a row, I was aghast! The tree looked bulimic due to my past. I slumped to the floor and grabbed hold of my man, We have&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[914],"tags":[1927,713,1926,1925,657,1928],"class_list":["post-3874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-relationships-2","tag-christ-is-born","tag-christmas-eve","tag-christmas-gifts","tag-christmas-tree","tag-meaning-of-christmas","tag-twas-the-night-before-christmas"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Twas the Night Before Christmas...<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/12\/twas-the-night-before-christmas.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Twas the Night Before Christmas...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, but I felt like a louse! As I gazed at the packages all in a row, I was aghast! The tree looked bulimic due to my past. I slumped to the floor and grabbed hold of my man, We have&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/12\/twas-the-night-before-christmas.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-12-24T08:03:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-12-24T20:03:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2012\/12\/Blue-Christmas-Tree.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Twas the Night Before Christmas...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/12\/twas-the-night-before-christmas.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Twas the Night Before Christmas...","og_description":"Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, but I felt like a louse! 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