Texas Posadas: Familia, Friends & Villancicos for Christmas!

I remember once we went to a midnight mass.  I must have been 14 or 15 years old at the time.  We hardly ever did stuff like that as a family, but that year had been an especially hard one for all of us and I guess my mother thought it would be good for us.  Anyway, there was one woman crying in the back of the church by the entrance where we were standing, and I distinctly remember her wails of desperation.  It was a tone of desperation that I had heard in my mother for the first time that year.

As the choir slowly elevated their voices into the classic Ave Maria, I couldn’t help but to shiver inside and out.  My face immediately felt faint, my knees weak, and out of the corner of my eyes I struggled to keep entire tear drops from rolling down the side of my face.  It was a s strange and soothing feeling that felt like a release.  As if an entire burden had been lifted from my shoulders, and for the very first time in my life I felt what I can only describe as a spiritual experience.  It’s happened only a handful of times since then, and every time I hear Ave Maria I still get goosebumps from that moment.

This year, in a way, this Christmas, I feel especially connected to that song, that experience, and the moments of my daily life that make me feel like that everyday.  The point that I’m trying to make is that when I set out to write about Texas Posadas, or how I celebrate posadas in my family here in Texas, as part of this blog hop, I didn’t realize this is where I would end up.  This year has truly been a blessed one for us.

I’m grateful more than ever for my family.  For friends.  My marriage.  It’s kind of cliche to say I guess because everyone says that, but in my heart I genuinely feel it.  And that’s something I’ve never been able to say before.  And it feels good to do so.  And even though maybe I don’t celebrate posadas the way I should, or the way you’re supposed to, the main reason I wanted to participate in this series was to share my joy and happiness.  To let you know dear reader, that I have peace in my heart this Christmas, and that I sincerely wish the same for you and yours.

Merry Christmas and many blessings this Navidad and in the New Year!

Please enjoy a little bit of my heart below, and visit my friend’s blogs as well to see what they’re thinking about and celebrating this Navidad.

TEXAS POSADAS BLOG HOP 

I’m participating in a Texas Posadas Blog Hop as part of the Texas Social Media Network (#TXSocial).  You can visit these other blogs for more on Posadas: food, traditions, etc.  We’ll be celebrating our Posada Blogs for the next nine days.  Join us!

12/16 – My Tots Travel 

12/17 – Sweet Life

12/18 – Expecting The Unexpected 

12/19 – Frida’s Cafe  and Juan of Words

12/20 – Tejana Made

12/21 – Monica Wants It

12/22 – Sybilline

12/23 – Your Sassy Self

12/24 – ¿Qué Means What?