HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

We really enjoy Thanksgiving and especially when our harvest is complete, as it was this year. Throughout that holiday I look forward to Christmas with great anticipation. It all seems to fit together so well - being thankful, and Christ. It's so satisfying and peaceful!
We have been enjoying Christmas music for a couple weeks now and it brings such a great feeling with it. With all this wonderful feeling inside, I still feel somewhat like a scrooge this year. I'm not sure I want to do the Santa thing. Santa stands for something wonderful and good, but I don't look forward to all the time and effort that Santa requires. I really want my children to get in on the giving end of the holiday and not focus on the receiving end so much. I love the lights and decorations, but this year I even want to keep that simple.

As I think about it, I realize that most of the music I listen to isn't about Santa or reindeers, it's about Jesus, His birth, peace, believing, gathering with family and friends, and keeping those wonderful feelings all year round. No wonder I love it. That is where the true peace comes, no matter what goes on around us. We are back to those two things again - being thankful and Christ.

I want to let the hustle and bustle of the season go and enjoy the peaceful part of Christmas and find the joy that comes from celebrating this holiday for the real reason we have it. So, I'll keep listening to the music, and I'll keep doing all I can to center our lives around Christ and His goodness, and being thankful.

Maybe I'm not a scrooge after all. We will have Christmas at our house. There is room for Him here! We need to make room for Him every day, all year, so that joy will never cease.