I LOVE CHRISTMAS! It’s absolutely my favorite time of year. I love the ham, turkey, and dressing that comes with Christmas Day, I love the fact that Walmart starts selling trees for it in September, and I love the atmosphere that comes along with it. People seem to be a little friendlier. (Except for Black Friday shoppers who will literally trample you to get 20 bucks off of a Blu-Ray player.) I enjoy the music of Christmas. There’s something about bells that I will never tolerate in music January – November, but there’s a certain magic that comes with it in December.
I love Christmas lights, even though I never place a single colored bulb on my home, or even buy a Christmas tree for my family room. I did participate with my family in the event when I was a child, however. There was something so fun about getting outside with my dad, and watching him place lights on our home. I’d help him find the one bulb that kept the entire string of lights from working. I’d also wait for mom to come outside and admire our work. It was such a fun time.
Our church would always have a cheesy program for the children, and the standard low budget re-creation of the nativity and birth of Jesus. (Don’t be hatin’ the low budget Christmas programs. Making sheep out of four year olds and the stuffing that goes into a quilt was quite hilarious!)
♫♪ “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
There be much misoltoeing
and hearts will be glowing
when loved ones are near.
Its the most wonderful time of the year.There be parties for hosting,
marshmellows for toasting
and caroling out in the snow.
There be scary ghost stories
and tales of the glories
of Christmases long long ago.” ♫♪
On Christmas Eve, we would have a large party with my entire family… Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and my Grandmother. My grandmother would purchase gifts for all of the grandchildren, until they reached the age of 18, and then they all got money. My parents, along with my Aunts and Uncles would compete to see who could give my Grandmother the best, or most expensive gift. (Gammaw would love whatever she got. She hated the competition.)
Then there’s Christmas Day! We typically had planty of leftovers from Christmas Eve, so we didn’t create a redundant feast. Presents was always awesome! What I can rattle off of the top of my head that I can remember is my new bikes, the evolution of Nintendo, Sega, and Playstation game systems, and countless boxes of Legos. I LOVED LEGOS!
Then came Christmas clothes. Good grief! My parents had plenty of money when I was a kid, so WHY did my mom insist on getting me stuff from the clearance rack at Walmart? Really? C’mon, clothes from Walmart are bad enough, without having to buy from the rack of clothes that NO ONE wanted! It’s on clearance for a reason! (It’s all cool… clothing from Walmart tends to fall apart after being washed only 3 times anyway, so they were gone before most people gave up on their New Years resolutions.)
Santa Claus, Toys, Turkey and Dressing, twinkiling lights… I loved it all. But, my parents ensured that I never forgot the real reason that we celebrated all of the above. It was because of the birth of Christ. Because He was born, He was able to teach us, heal us, and die for us. He did this to show that He loved us. I knew Santa wasn’t real, but I knew that Christ was. And I love the month of December and what comes with it.
So… I am going to dedicate all of my December blogs to the topic of Christmas. If you’re a “mully grub” that doesn’t like Christmas, or you don’t celebrate it because you believe Jesus was really born in autumn, or you think that Christmas has been too commercialized over the years, or maybe back in 1980, you told someone at the mall in a Santa suit that you wanted a train for Christmas, and you got tighty whiteys instead, and 30 yrs later, you’re STILL bitter… Bah Humbug! Read the blogs anyway! You might get something out of them even when you think you won’t! How silly to be irritated by the entire month of December. Get happy!
The Alarida Journey 