My Christmas Top Ten

I love top ten lists and Christmas so here is my list of my top favorite Christmas traditions. It's hard to narrow the list down, but here's my best attempt:

10) Clothes: Yes, that's right, clothes. I love dressing up and I love winter clothes. I love coats and scarves and gloves and turtlenecks and fuzzy socks and different shades of red and green. I love getting Christmas dresses and making my poor nieces wear the dresses I wish I could wear. I love feeling snuggley all day long. I'm thankful that the weather is cold enough right now to merit my wearing winter weather clothes.

9) Decorations: It begins right at Thanksgiving break. I decorate my classroom with twinkle lights, ribbons and garland. Then I go to my mom's house and we decorate her tree (I refuse to let her do this without me). We talk about the history of all of her ornaments and where they all came from. We stare at the tree from afar with lights on and off and then move one ornament 2 inches to the right or decide to switch a red one with a white one to get a good balance. We then make Dad come and give his opinion which is always, "Beautiful!" Mom has to occasionally corral me in as I dance away to listen to music or get something to drink and get distracted. It's a great time.
   Then I get to my tree with my roommate which takes us at most ten minutes to select and then a little longer to decorate. It's an eclectic tree filled with ornaments that were mostly gifts from other people. We get a wreath and put up our lights which are on a remote. We then joke about who must bear the difficult burden of turning the lights off at night (a task that requires the pressing of one button).

8) Movies: I love Christmas movies! The Cheesier the better. I've written many blogs about this subject so I don't think I need to expand much on this except that I love Elf, BFC, and White Christmas probably the best.

7)eggnog/ cocomotion: I love eggnog. The end. I love cocomotion. Cocomotion was a gag gift my mom gave me several years ago that has become a beloved appliance. Everyone was getting coffee machines and I don't drink coffee so mom got me a hot coco machine instead. It both stirs and heats the hot chocolate to a perfect temperature. Not too hot and not too cold. It is a miracle machine that makes chocolatey goodness and I hope it lasts another ten years.

6)  gifts: Yes, I have a million people I buy presents for and yes, I'm sure I could spend that money on better things, but there is a special thrill when you find the perfect gift for someone and you can't wait to give it to him or her. On Christmas day there are so many presents at my Aunt and Uncle's house that we feel a sense of gluttony, but it doesn't stop us from all buying for each other.

5)music: I love listening to my favorite Christmas albums (which I've also blogged about). There are just some songs that whisk you back to your childhood or make you suddenly feel like Christmas is really here. I love listening to the KOST. My brother Paul and I leave each other fake KOSTmas wishes on our phones. We'll call each other up and leave cheesey messages and dedications for the Christmas season. It's one of the few times we hope the other doesn't answer the phone so we can leave a long and sappy message and dedicate real or fake songs to each other.

4)  singing: I know this seems like a repeat of the previous one, but I consider this one different because this is not just listening to music, but singing it out. I love to carol with people (I've gone three times this year) and I especially love singing special music stuff at church: choir songs, songs with the kids, tight harmonies with my mom and aunt, or the one note chorus on Christmas night. The one note chorus was started by my roommate and her sister and was quickly stolen by my family. We sit in a circle and start to sing a Christmas song, but each person only sings one note at a time. So I would sing the first note and then the person next to me would sing the next note and so on and so on. I love singing "Angels We Have Heard on High" this way because the Gloria is super silly.

3)  play at church: The Christmas play is a big part of my season. In fact, I think about next year's play before this year's is even done. I love how great our kids are, how much they memorize, how skilled they are as actors, how willing they are to do what I ask of them, and how sweetly they sing of the gospel of Christmas. And if all else fails there is always the magic that happens when the youngest ones sing Away in a Manger. It's a fun night and a great reminder of why we celebrate - Christ's birth means that we are saved from our sins, at peace with God, and adopted into His family forever!

2) candle light service - On Christmas Eve we have a candle light service. I love the music and the atmosphere and being with my church family on this special holiday. But the ultimate best part is at the end. All of the lights go out, we all light candles and stand around the edge of the church in a circle and sing "Silent Night". It's so beautiful and so wonderful - that's when Christmas feels most real.

1) Christmas day with the family - like a giant slumber party with the people you love the most in the world. I guess that's exactly what it is. My family all crowds into the beach house with our presents, people, snoring, suitcases, and food. We stay up too late, get up too early, eat food all day and unwrap presents for hours. Some people come later because they have other families to go to. Some leave during the middle of the day to celebrate at other homes, but everyone comes back at night for dinner and stockings. Grandma gives us her own stockings that she prepares during the whole year. She buys so many things that go with each person. From mugs to hair ties, from lip gloss to books, her stocking stuffers are what some people would consider full blown presents. And she does this for anyone who happens to be there that night. If you are celebrating Christmas night with us, you will have a stocking. She's amazing.

I love Christmas because it is beautiful, it is sentimental, and it is filled with food and family. I think that the ultimate thing about Christmas is that it allows us all the opportunity to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas. This is not some ethereal unknown feeling of joy or wonder. The real meaning of Christmas is that God in His mercy came to earth in the most humble of forms, and revealed himself to the most humble of people. God did this to save a broken people from their sins and collect them as his own children. The miracle of Jesus and how we get to celebrate that openly is why I love this season so much.

Christmas in a small town in a big city

I love my church. There are many reasons why, but tonight was a good reflection of how great my church is. We had our annual church play tonight and it was everything our church play should be: kids sang songs, people played instruments, costumes were made and edited at the last minute, lines were recited (some with feeling others with fear), and the little kids sang "Away in a Manger".

I love to watch Christmas movies and especially ones about small towns. I've always wanted to live in a small town. I am drawn to the idea of living in a place where everyone knows you and cares about you. Where everyone pitches in to take care of each other. Where we're not afraid to discipline each other's children or take action to help when help is needed. Where people can be a little kooky, but they are loved for it. I feel like this is what our church offers.

I get nervous every year about the Christmas play. I hope that the kids have a good time, that the message of the birth of Christ comes through, that the costumes will work out. I am always sure that the previous year's was better and that people will tell me so. When I get to a semi-meltdown state (usually the Saturday before), my dad always reassures me with this conversation, "What is our mantra?" he asks. "Everyone will love it no matter what. They don't care if it's bad," I reply in monotone. This year my dad reminded me, "It's not that they don't care, it's that they are going to love to see those kids up on the stage and that's what they'll get."

You see, in our small town of Faith Presbyterian, each kid on that stage was known and loved by the people in the audience. So when Josh says his lines with exaggerated enunciation and heartfelt emotion, we all smile with joy over the fact that this dear boy has a place in life where he can flourish and be quirky. And when our multitude of the heavenly host (all four of them) say "Glory to God in the highest" in a flat monotone, we all fill with pride over the fact that these little ones (first graders) knew their lines and came onstage at the right time. Dakota can pull on Eddie's lamb ear and say that she wants to sing "This Little Light of Mine" instead of "Away in a Manger" and we are reminded of a time when people thought she wouldn't walk or speak.

It's the fact that these kids are loved for who they are and that they are really cherished that makes the play so much fun to watch. But you know what my favorite part is (besides the fact that it's over successfully)? I love to see these kids say boldly that Christ is the Messiah. They've been in the plays enough times to know that if they have the lines that tell the truth of the Messiah they have the most important lines and they say them loudly and clearly. "The Messiah has come!" they shout with joy. Or "He will come to bring peace between Men and God," Josh whispers with the heaviness of such truth.

And then, as if that wasn't enough, we have the orchestra made up of members who play all year long and some who only play once a year. And then we sing along - loudly and with joy. And afterward we have food prepared by many different hands and candy distributed to the kids (but if you make a pouty face and ask nicely, sometimes the big kids get a bag too).

It's on this day that I feel like I live in a small town in a Christmas movie. There is no shortage of love on this day and I am so thankful that I get to be a part of such a fun and worshipful time. I am overwhelmed by the gifts God has lavished on me and I am thankful for the church that helps me see it.