Today is the 23rd of December, and 18-20 years ago, my siblings and I were filled with excitement as Christmas approached. It was a time when we could celebrate at home with our parents, indulge in delicious food, and adorn ourselves in new dresses. The festivities included eagerly anticipated afternoon games where we received prizes and the frequent treat of Gur Chini (jaggery) every few hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our parents, however, were seldom present at the community ground festivities. My mom was occupied with church and community work, while my dad had his own responsibilities, making appearances during the celebration quite rare. We found solace with our second and third aunt (yet third Aunt won’t be there this year at the community ground, as she is in a better place now), who took care of us, treated us to local delicacies like Sinju, and occasionally bought special treats from the shop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite not having the opportunity to wear fancy dresses or join our friends, the bond between my sisters and me strengthened. I took on the role of the big sister, responsible for their well-being in the absence of our parents. Occasionally, our peer groups would ridicule us for not being part of the larger group or not dressing as smartly. This, along with mom’s peculiar restrictions, further distanced us from our peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This Christmas tradition continued until I started my degree studies. Since then, my participation in the festivities dwindled due to exams, short holidays requiring expense savings, and later commitments in the workplace. Initially, I didn’t mind being away during Christmas, but as time passed, I started feeling homesick and longed to be with my family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year, being far from home, I anticipate spending most of my time inside the four walls of my room. My prayer is that, regardless of our locations, we will welcome Christ into our hearts and let His presence dwell within us. May we learn to submit to His care and be instruments of His love, no matter the circumstances. I extend warm wishes to everyone for a Merry Christmas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today is the 23rd of December, and 18-20 years ago, my siblings and I were filled with excitement as Christmas approached. It was a time when we could celebrate at home with our parents, indulge in delicious food, and adorn ourselves in new dresses. The festivities included eagerly anticipated afternoon games where we received prizes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAowg7bGDA:productID":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,13],"tags":[132,164,215,244,284,286,288,370,371,387,678,728,783,784,810,878,945,948,951,984,1042,1048,1098,1132,1286,1302,1485,1545,1555,1583,1595,1683,1709,1719],"class_list":["post-617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-purpose","category-youthlife","tag-aunt","tag-big-sister","tag-bond","tag-care","tag-christ-is-to-me","tag-christmas","tag-church","tag-creative-writing","tag-creativity","tag-dailyprompt","tag-emotions","tag-experiences","tag-festive-season","tag-festivities","tag-food","tag-good-food","tag-home","tag-homesick","tag-hope","tag-impromptu","tag-jesus","tag-journalling","tag-life","tag-love","tag-parents","tag-peace","tag-role","tag-siblings","tag-sisters","tag-solace","tag-special","tag-thelastchristmas","tag-tradition","tag-treat"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":166,"url":"https:\/\/lifetapestries.in\/?p=166","url_meta":{"origin":617,"position":0},"title":"The last holiday!","author":"Weave the colours","date":"September 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Daily writing promptHow do you celebrate holidays?View all responses If I recall back correctly, the last time I celebrated holidays with pomp and gaiety was some 15 to 18 years back. When all my family members come home together to celebrate Christmas. We don't wear new dresses like our friends\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"christmas\"","block_context":{"text":"christmas","link":"https:\/\/lifetapestries.in\/?tag=christmas"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":859,"url":"https:\/\/lifetapestries.in\/?p=859","url_meta":{"origin":617,"position":1},"title":"The first things that I do is say praises to Jesus for the good things.","author":"Weave the colours","date":"February 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Daily writing promptYou get some great, amazingly fantastic news. What\u2019s the first thing you do?View all responses Whenever I receive good news, the first thing I do is shout out praises to the Lord and express a heartfelt \"Thank you, Jesus.\" Following that, I immediately call my mom to share\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hollistic development"","block_context":{"text":"Hollistic development","link":"https:\/\/lifetapestries.in\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":204,"url":"https:\/\/lifetapestries.in\/?p=204","url_meta":{"origin":617,"position":2},"title":"The irreplaceable family bond!","author":"Weave the colours","date":"September 25, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Daily writing promptWhat's the best piece of advice you've ever received?View all responses Over the years, I have received countless immeasurable pieces of advice from well-wishers, family, friends, teachers, and even small children around me. All of these have played a role in shaping who I am today, and for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"advice\"","block_context":{"text":"advice","link":"https:\/\/lifetapestries.in\/?tag=advice"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":135,"url":"https:\/\/lifetapestries.in\/?p=135","url_meta":{"origin":617,"position":3},"title":"Timid little girl! Part 2","author":"Weave the colours","date":"August 22, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Growing up, her parents nurtured her with love and kindness, teaching her the will of God and imparting the bountiful love of Jesus Christ for mankind. They instilled in her the strength and independence to face any circumstances. At the age of four, she took on the responsibility of being\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "dreams"","block_context":{"text":"dreams","link":"https:\/\/lifetapestries.in\/?cat=14"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":901,"url":"https:\/\/lifetapestries.in\/?p=901","url_meta":{"origin":617,"position":4},"title":"Who are the Favorite people in the list?","author":"Weave the colours","date":"February 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Who are your favorite people to be around? Parents and siblings are those I can never do without. I love having them around and spending 90% of my life with them. Then come my friends, who are strangely weird in their own way. I am grateful that they are always\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "dreams"","block_context":{"text":"dreams","link":"https:\/\/lifetapestries.in\/?cat=14"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":478,"url":"https:\/\/lifetapestries.in\/?p=478","url_meta":{"origin":617,"position":5},"title":"POPPY the best of all!","author":"Weave the colours","date":"November 23, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Favorite animal? I don't have a specific favorite, but if I were to choose, it would be dogs. I remember we had a dog named POPPY when we were young. POPPY was a faithful companion who seemed to understand our language and had a great affection for us. It would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sojourner"","block_context":{"text":"Sojourner","link":"https:\/\/lifetapestries.in\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifetapestries.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifetapestries.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifetapestries.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifetapestries.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifetapestries.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifetapestries.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifetapestries.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifetapestries.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifetapestries.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}