Christmas is Coming

Christmas used to be my favorite holiday but then Thanksgiving took the title.  I thought the battle was won once and for all, but Christmas is still putting up a good fight.  I think it’s going to win this year.

Thanksgiving is so chill.  You get the awesome food and good family and/or friend time without the stress of presents, going all out on decorations (i.e. detangling, checking bulbs, and putting up lights), or the possible terrible weather (think icy and bitter cold).  Of course, what I like best is that it’s a time to reflect on what you’re thankful for, what is truly important in life.  My family passes around a leaf that says, “I’m thankful for…” and we each take a turn filling in the rest of the sentence.  It’s a nice tradition we’ve kept up. 

This year I started being grateful and expressing my thanks to God well before Thanksgiving rolled around due to a book I was reading.  It was so refreshing!  Being thankful takes the focus off of myself and puts it onto God.  It also brings me a lot of joy.  Some days it’s as simple as saying thanks for breathe, life, and a new day as I wake up, while other days I’ll be more specific by thanking Him for someone in my life and the characteristics they possess or what they said/taught me, for instance. 

I know that being thankful should always happen, not just on one day.  The same could be said for Christmas, however.  Christians celebrate the birth of Christ, yet we should always be mindful that if Christ had not been born as a baby being fully God and fully man, had not lived a perfect life, and had not died on the cross for our sins, we would not have a relationship with God.  I want to celebrate Christ’s life every day not just one day out of the year.

Why I like Christmas is, as the cliché goes, “the reason for the season.”  Although, I also like the lights and decorations (I admire other people’s hard work and am thankful I didn’t go through the hassle, quite honestly), and I very much like the Christmas carols that are sung.  It’s mind-boggling that such wonderful and powerful songs are only sung for maybe 2 months out of the year!  I guess the beauty is that many, many people sing carols at Christmas-time and, though they might not be a Christian, they are praising God.  I mean, have you really listened to the words?  I won’t list all the lyrics of the ones I like, such as Joy to the World, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, O Come All Ye Faithful, What Child is This, and Ave Maria, because you can just listen more closely when you hear them.  Of course, I like others like Carol of the Bells and The Little Drummer Boy but the best non-traditional Christmas music that I’ve heard is by the artist Jason Gray.  It’s brilliant.  I love them all, though some tops are Christmas is Coming, Forgiveness is a Miracle, Gloria!, and Rest.  I’ve listened to the album who knows how many times, year-round.

So, this year Christmas has become the best holiday for several reasons:

1)  I heard one of the best sermons today that wasn’t your typical Christmas presentation taken from Luke 2.  It was about Christ having a dysfunctional family as we looked at His genealogy in Matthew 1.  In very short, Christ did not come from a line of perfect people but from those who were broken and sinful who, most importantly, had faith.  I also pulled from the sermon that no family is perfect and God can relate.  

2)  I have been able to appreciate and partake in the lovely music that is played and sung only at this time.  I went to Andrew Peterson’s “Behold the Lamb of God” concert, where he sang the story of Christ from the beginning of the Bible all the way to his birth.  It was spectacular.  I was also able to attend my brother’s church’s Christmas service, which mimicked the service done at Kings College in Cambridge and was equally amazing.

3)  Unlike a lot of other years, I am not stressed about presents because I finished all my shopping two days after Thanksgiving.  It was a miracle.  I plan on repeating this from here on out or at least trying.

4)  I now have co-workers to say Merry Christmas to, go to parties with, and do all sorts of shenanigans with.

5)  Decorating my own place without going over-board or feeling stressed about it is fun.

6)  Baking :)  Friendship Bread might become my next “thing” or the recipe to put me on the map if I ever open a bakery.  You never know.

7)  I’m looking forward to seeing my immediate and extended family as well as friends.

Whether you dread Christmas or it’s what you look forward to all year long, I hope that you have a merry one and that you praise God with thankfulness for His Son.


For the fun of it --- pictures!