It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I remember how magical Christmas was as a child.

My family and I would pick out Christmas music (usually Steven Curtis Chapman or Amy Grant) and drink Farmstores eggnog and decorate the tree. Ok, maybe we got distracted and let mom decorate the tree. I loved watching my dad string the colored lights on the roof, the columns, over the garage and in the bushes outside my bedroom window. I remember how good it smelled the first day we got our tree into the house. I remember, as I got a little older, and my belief in ol St. Nick was unsure, Kirstie & I would test his existence by laying out cookies and then asking him (through prayer I guess) if he would only eat one cookie. If he ate more than one, we would know he wasn't real. Well, Santa was always more hungry than we thought he'd be. I remember waking up at 6, 6:30, 6:50, 7:15, 7:40, 8:00!!!!! We couldn't get out of bed until 8. Dad would set up the tripod video camera, put on some coffee & music and we'd open presents. After that we'd call granny's house to wish them Merry Christmas and tell them to come over for breakfast. Mom's sausage,egg, hashbrown and cheese casserole with fresh fruit. Then it was off to granny's to open gifts under her tree. We'd hang out there till late afternoon then load up our loot and head home to work on Christmas dinner. We usually took a walk, rode a new bike or played with new toys while dinner was prepared. Christmas dinner was always an intimate affair. Dad, mom, me, Kirstie, granny, papa & uncle Ricky.
It became tradition once Kirstie and I were 9 or 10 to have our friends the Shoe family over for a Christmas movie later that night. They are dear friends of ours who are more like family. They have two girls, Jessica & Jamie and a boy, Jared. Another Christmas tradition that was started somewhere along the way, is going to Atlantic Ave in Delray Beach to see the big Christmas tree and take a picture in front of it. It's a beautiful tree and has Santa's workshop inside it. Kirstie has started a tradition of making monkey bread on or around Christmas day and it's something her future husband's mom has made for years. :)



I love Christmas. The smells, the sounds, the significance. And even though lots of songs on the radio are singing about sleigh rides and mistletoe, they all remind me that this is the most wonderful time of year because of our Savior. Jesus; Lord at Thy birth. What a magical thing to ponder! I love remembering how He came; humbly, quietly, peacefully. No trumpets or lit up sky to proclaim His birth. No warm mansion for such royalty to dwell in. A cold, damp stable filled with animals and all their sanitary-ness. I love being reminded that Christ was man; pleased with men as man to dwell; Jesus our Emmanuel.

And while I love giving and receiving gifts, drinking hot cider & singing the holiday tunes, my favorite part is being still and pondering that little baby. That Holy baby whose cry was so tender and mild. That baby who came for me. Who came for you. That baby who even at birth could save the souls of men. I love Him. I'm so thankful for His gift. He knew my name even while laying in that manger. He knew my sin and my sorrow. He knew my heart's longings.

I love the lines in this song by Downhere,
"How many kings, stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
How many Gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that has torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?
Only one did that for me"