No kidding, I love Christmas, 'case you hadn't noticed by now (during this time of year, I frequently wear cozy sweaters, fuzzy socks, and an elf hat, and I'm singing Christmas carols).
And...'case you hadn't noticed, it's December 19th. Christmas is T-minus five days away. Christmas is one of my most favorite days of the year. Here are ten reasons why.
10. The Food.
I love food, and not just at Christmastime. I love food year-round. But food comes in great abundance at this time of year. I see Christmas as a feast. My family always holds a huge luncheon, with tons of my dad's relatives and some of my mom's cousins. We've even begun to invite really close family friends (which we "adopted" into our family ;).
9. The Fellowship.
I love fellowship, and not only that of the Ring. (Kudos to you if you caught that reference!!!). I love talking to people, being around people. I love laughing and loving and sharing Christ. That is what fellowship means to me. And if I can lift even one person's spirits, that will be the greatest Christmas gift I could be given.
8. The Christmas stories.
I love holiday stories. I love reading novels that were based on people learning the true meaning of Christmas. I love watching our Children's Department put on a Christmas play every year in mid-December. I love watching Christmas movies -- one of my favorites is The Christmas Card. :)
7. Decorating!
Decorating. Is. So. Fun.
From stringing tinsel across archways to decorating the mini pine tree, I love it. We put manger scenes on the top of the piano and string a lighted garland across another archway. Dad puts up a lighted manger scene outside -- which he frequently changes the bulbs of -- and Mom puts a huge sparkly bow on our door. My cousin even makes these awesome tissue-paper-snowflakes which read words such as "Noel", "Joy", or "Jesus". We have a little one that says "Noel".
6. The parties.
I love holiday parties. I love white elephant gifts, decorating waffle-cone-Christmas-trees, and thinking of synonymous Christmas carol titles. Parties also include food.
5. The anticipation.
I LOVE ANTICIPATION. One of the best parts of Christmas, to me, is the anticipation. We go to ALL of this trouble for just one day, but it's soooo worth it. As The Christmas Song says...."Tiny tots, with their eyes all aglow, will find it hard to sleep tonight!"
4. Finding Christmas presents for people.
I love that moment when you're walking through a store, and you see something, and you go, "THAT WOULD BE PERFECT FOR MY AUNT."
And then you buy it because instinct is an amazing thing...and lo and behold, your aunt DOES INDEED love that gift.
Which brings me to...
3. Giving.
I love giving. Giving is sooooo wonderful. That moment when they're opening the package to see what it is....when they're unsure but yet delighted because you thought of them...
I love that moment when they're not quite sure what it is, but they know it'll be something they'll love.
2. The Carols.
I. Love. Music.
And I love Christmas carols.
From O Come, All Ye Faithful to A Strange Way to Save the World, I love them all. :) Rose of Bethlehem is incredible, too.
1. The Gift.
There's a Gift we receive every single day of our lives, but we are made more aware of it at Christmastime.
You see, as Paul puts it in Philippians...Jesus is a part of God, and because of that, Jesus, in a sense, is God.
So GOD came down from Heaven and took the form of the most helpless of creatures, a newborn baby boy. And He was not born the Prince of England or the son of a Russian Czar...as God should have been.
He was born the son of a carpenter and a virgin, two people who loved each other very much. He was not born in London, England, or New York, New York.
He was born in a tiny town in Israel, the most picked-on nation in the world.
He was not born in the White House, Buckingham Palace, or Caesar's household.
Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World, was born in a stable, behind a tiny inn. No one ever knew the name of that innkeeper. No one knew the shepherds who came, but the important thing was they knew.
They knew that Jesus Christ was Lord. They knew that He gave us all a gift that we cannot survive without...and He gives it every day. For the greatest Gift came not wrapped in a beautiful package with a curly bow.
The greatest Gift was wrapped in swaddling clothes, and the greatest Gift bled and died to save us -- you and me -- from ourselves.
There's a Rose in Bethlehem
With a beauty quite divine
Perfect in this world of sin
On this silent holy night
There's a fragrance much like hope
That it sends upon the wind
Reaching out to every soul
From a lowly manger's crib
Oh, Rose of Bethlehem
How lovely, pure, and sweet
Born to glorify the Father
Born to wear the thorns for me
There's a Rose in Bethlehem
Colored red like mercy's blood
Tis the flower of our faith
Tis the blossom of God's love
Though it's bloom is fresh with youth
Surely what will be He knows
For a tear of morning dew
Is rolling down the Rose
Oh, Rose of Bethlehem
How lovely, pure, and sweet
Born to glorify the Father
Born to wear the thorns for me
There's a Rose in Bethlehem
With a beauty quite divine
Perfect in this world of sin
On this silent holy night
Oh, Rose of Bethlehem
How lovely, pure, and sweet
Born to glorify the Father
Born to wear the thorns for me. ~ Selah
Love,
Grace
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