Away for Christmas

For years I've listened to—and loved—the Christmas classic "I'll Be Home for Christmas." You know the familiar tune:

I'll be home for Christmas,
you can count on me;
Please have snow and mistletoe
and presents on the tree.

Christmas eve will find me
where the lovelight gleams;
I'll be home for Christmas
if only in my dreams.

Until this year, I never had to wonder what it would be like to be away for Christmas; I've always made it home. Until this year, Christmas meant turkey dinner at Grandma's house with all of my aunts, uncles and cousins. It meant giving and receiving presents from friends and family. It meant a flurry of snowstorms and frozen ground, sparkling lights and events downtown. It meant a healthy dose of my favorite music, from Handel and Bach to Karen Carpenter and Mannheim Steamroller. It meant wassail and egg nog and cookies and caroling.



The best Christmas album of all time: Christmas Portrait by the Carpenters

But this year Christmas means something different. You see, I won't be home for Christmas. I'll be away—by choice—and home will be just a dream. That's because I'm serving as a full-time missionary in the Nashville, Tennessee area. I'm spending time away from my family so that I can share a message about eternal family relationships with people I do not even know. My understanding of God's plan is so important to me that I want to share it with everybody I can, even if that means passing up Grandma's cooking.

What I've learned is that is doesn't matter so much where I am for Christmas as it does who is in my heart at Christmas. At home or away I'll still be thinking about my family. I'll still reflect on memories with friends. And yes, I might even start humming a Karen Carpenter tune or two.

But this year I get the added bonus of sharing a message about the Savior with my new friends. I may not know them yet, but I love them.

To love another person is to see the face of God.

So said Jean Valjean in the timeless drama Les Miserables.

I've seen the face of God many times over in Tennessee.