Merry Christmas

People sure are trying to make Christmas depressing. It seems everyone wants to be focused on the negatives of the season. They want to talk about consumer debt, people who only go to church once a year, lavish gifts, non-appreciative people who receive low priced gifts, the hustle & bustle, etc. Whew it wears me out. Really, should we focus on these things only at Christmas. Do they not happen the other 51 weeks of the year? We can build debt for birthday presents and big vacations and their are people who only go to church on Easter. But I never hear these conversations on these occasions. We can see people not appreciate gifts on other occasions. Maybe we are the start to correcting this. It has to start with you. Make sure you appreciate the gift, not the price tag.

I love Christmas and truly try to focus on the things I love about it. I have certain Christmas routines. I love listening to my favorite Christmas CD, Manheim Steamroller (which was given to me by my friend C3); I love the excitement that fills my girls the weeks before Christmas; I love going shopping one day the week before Christmas ( I usually won't go shopping but I love to see all the people); I love telling people Merry Christmas; I love taking my girls to see the Christmas lights at Noble Park in Paducah; I love Dec 23 and hearing my girls talk about tomorrow being Christmas Eve; I love how they think Dec 23 is the big practice day for flying reindeer; I love eating filet and shrimp at my parents on Christmas Eve; I love getting together with Cecil and Patty and getting beat at Phase 10; I love Duck Hunting around Christmas; I love cooking a big breakfast on Christmas Day; I love giving people gifts; I love seeing my girls run in the living room on Christmas morning to see what Santa brought them; I love always putting some suprise in Carrie's stocking; I love showing excitement when I receive a low priced present from someone who doesn't have much money; I love the feeling I get when I receive such a present; I love listening to the Holly channel on XM Radio; I love watching my girls leave Santa cookies on Christmas Eve; I love eating the cookies my girls leave Santa on Christmas Eve; I love watching my girls leave carrots for the reindeer; I love chewing on the carrots so it looks like reindeer ate them; I love spending time with my family; I love seeing a white Christmas (which isn't very often and since it was 58 deg today I doubt I will this year); and I love being off work a couple days when I know all my customers are off work also.

I am adding a new routine to my Christmas list this year. I have never celebrated Christmas as Jesus's birthday. The church I grew up in didn't do this at all. You could preach a sermon about the birth of Jesus 51 weeks a year, but you better not do it Christmas week. This became silly to me a few years back. But I was conditioned and trained this way so I didn't do anything about it. I don't single out Christmas to be the only time I think about Jesus. I think about him 52 weeks a year. Sure there are people who do this, but I'm not going to focus on that. I'm going to be happy they at least think about him 1 week a year and try to build off that. So starting Christmas 2006 we will put Christ in our Christmas. We will read the story of the birth of Jesus on Christmas Eve. I will teach my kids Joy To The World, Away In A Manger, Silent Night, and other Spiritual Christmas Songs. Who knows, we might even sing Happy Birthday to Jesus ( I was traumitized as a kid when they did that in Full Metal Jacket).

So Merry Christmas to you and Feliz Navidad to my Spanish speaking readers ( I don't think I have any, but it sounded good).

We will have a MERRY CHRISTMAS, WILL YOU?