In Praise of the American Christmas

Right after thanksgiving, Americans are often torn between two contrasting sentiments.  The first is "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", where one abandons oneself to the pent-up desires to play Christmas music and decorate the tree while drinking egg nog.  The other is disgust and often complaining about the rush and distractions of the uber-busy and psychotic consumerism embodied in violent mega-store incidents at 2am on black friday.

And yes, there are things amiss in the way Americans generally celebrate Christmas.  But I would like to take a moment to celebrate the vision of Christmas that most Americans hold, because I personally find it wonderful and even wonder-filling.

Ask anyone to name five things associated with Christmas and you could easily get five different things.  Name twenty Christmas songs?  Easily.  American Christmas is amazingly multi-dimensional, considering that it's traditions are relatively short-lived (compared to European counterparts, that is).

Christmas is, of course, foremost the celebration of Christ's coming, but it is also a celebration of gifts.  Family.  Generosity.  Parties.  Lights.  Winter.  The passing of another year.  Music.  And food:  Cookies of scores of holiday varieties.  Egg Nog. Custard.  Cocoa.  All things flavored with nutmeg.

Can all these things distract from our understanding and contemplation of the incarnation of Christ?  They can, but I am not convinced that they must.  Because I think that all these things are the traditions, the fabric, the stuff of celebration.  They can create the picture frame for the image of the incarnation, reminding that this really is the same old story whose importance and wonder makes it worth telling over and over again, year after year.

All the unique caroling melodies, color combinations, pine smells, peppermint flavors, and lighted homes come out just one a year to add to the thickness of our celebration, just as the winter season itself calls for an increase in layers.

The diverse visions of American Christmas go on and on.  The Currier and Ives and Norman Rockwell.  The 1950's Coca Cola Santa Pictures.  Jimmy Stewart and Bedford Falls.  Clay-mation Rudolph.  Bing Crosby and his crowd of crooners in the ski lodges.  The Peanuts gang sliding around on the ice with their too-short legs.  All of these are some kind of ideal, and probably none of them have really existed.  But they fill our imaginations and we watch their movies and put together jigsaw puzzles which bear their diverse images.

Thus, if you ask me, I would say, that if all these things bring you joy, embrace it as the joy of your celebration of the birth of Christ, as disparate as it may seem.  The milieu of the American Christmas can be a blessing, and it's our own and others' expectations that will run us over,  not your favorite snack or your favorite movie.

Christmas Letter 2008

As the year winds to a close and Eric and I prepare to celebrate three years of marriage together, we pause and look back to yet another whirlwind year in our lives. Instead of going chronologically this year, I think we’ll start with biggest news first.

In case you haven’t heard, we’re expecting the birth of our first child—a girl—on April 29, 2009 (or thereabouts)! Despite all of my worries and paranoia (no doubt due to the fact that I’m an obstetrics/gynecology resident) it has been an uneventful pregnancy thus far. The timing is really just about perfect—I can take the month of May off and then finish up with a few weeks of residency in June before finally graduating from residency! Eric, too, graduates from his family practice residency in June.

That leads us to our next biggest news: what we’re doing after residency. Most of you already know that we have planned on working internationally for some time, and those plans haven’t changed (even with a new baby). In fact, we have been accepted to a program through an organization called World Medical Mission/Samaritan’s Purse. They will place us with mentoring physicians in our specialties and help fund us for the first two years of medical work. Then it’s up to us to find a long term agency or job in which to work. We will be heading to Tenwek Hospital in western Kenya (east Africa) sometime around October 2009 for a two year commitment. Going with us are two other couples from our church, Jason & Heather Fader (a general surgeon) and John & Jessica Cropsey (ophthalmology/eyes). We hope to develop a long term partnership with them and work together for years to come. Just FYI, the hospital is located in some beautiful mountains, not far from many fantastic game parks, for whoever wants to visit. J

The rest of the year has been full of fun family meetings and vacations. Eric’s youngest sister Jena got married in June in Nashville and we were able to be a part of that wedding. Rachel’s grandparents celebrated 60 years of marriage this fall and had a nice family dinner in honor of all those years! We also traveled to Arizona, Texas, Minnesota, Louisville, and Chattanooga (for a multi-day canoe trip). Our big vacation, and last as a childless couple, was to Montreal and Quebec for a few days of “European” Canada, and then to Maine and Acadia National Park, where we enjoyed lots of camping, biking, and cheap lobster! All that interspersed with months of working primarily night shifts left us pretty busy, but grateful of all the opportunities to see friends and family.


We look back on the year, and in fact our five years together, with joy at all of the blessings we’ve received. And we look to the future, and all the promises it holds of God’s continued leading and faithfulness. Truly we can say again, as we have in the past, “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” –Psalm 126:3. May you also know the joy of the Lord’s faithfulness in your lives. Much love,

Rachel, Eric, and B.G. (baby girl) McLaughlin

Trimming the Tannenbaum

This week we continued our tradition of the Scotch Pine decorating. We poured a couple glasses of egg nog, turned up the Bing Crosby, pulled the Christmas box (singular) out of storage, and set to work. Apparently, egg nog and Bing are a combination for a wild time, as seen below.

Yet the tree found it's way to full decoration, where it has been enjoyed by all.