First, a confession – I wasn’t even sure I should post this yet because it’s going to be about Christmas and, seriously, in my opinion, it’s too early for Christmas yet. BUT, here is where I give myself a disclaimer and valid (to me) excuses to post about it. No Christmas music has been played in our home so far this year. The nativity scenes and other decorations are still in the attic. In fact, I have not decorated a single thing inside or outside of our home yet in anything other than autumn decor. I haven’t so much as looked at Christmas card lay-outs, let alone picked out our’s for this year. I haven’t purchased the first gift. The “elf on the shelf” is still the elf in hiding. We also still need to buy our angel tree gifts. So, I’m totally NOT putting Christmas ahead of Thanksgiving. Except for today, on this blog. That’s all. 😉
I am thankful for Christmas.
As a Christian, I am thankful for Christmas because it is the celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. What a miraculous and awesome gift to celebrate! I adore the Biblical Christmas story and love reading it and sharing with the girls. That is truly what Christmas is all about and we celebrate that first and foremost.
We also incorporate other traditions into our Christmas. And, yes, even Santa. Although Macey knows the truth about the big guy in red (read that story here), she still goes along with it all. It is all in fun. We look forward to getting the girls photos done with Santa again this year. (Here’s the part where I admit that I goofed and thought they had portraits today when, in fact, I had the date wrong. Oops!) While Santa is a nice legend, I like that he stands for sharing and giving, rather than receiving. In our home, Santa brings three gifts — just like Jesus received three gifts. So, while we do use some “secular” traditions, we tie them in with the Biblical truth of Christmas. That’s what works for us and we love our celebrations.
Editing to add – I wrote this a few days ago and saved it in the queue to be published to the blog. Since then, we have found out that Mariana’s friend Bea is in hospice care and is in her final days on this earth. Bea has bravely battled a rare brain cancer and is now resting peacefully in hospice care. Her wonderful family has decorated her room for Christmas since it is a favorite season for her. So, I am thankful today that Sweet Bea gets one more Christmas. God bless Bea and her family.
So, while I wish that Christmas were not so commercialized and that stores would wait longer than October to decorate, I still have lots to be thankful for when it comes to Christmas. It’s a time of sharing, as well as being with family and friends. I’ll choose to celebrate the great things about the real meaning of Christmas rather than grump about the things that bug me. Here’s to the coming Advent and Christmas season – hope it is blessed and beautiful for all!
Happy Saturday, y’all…
Kelly