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Christmas Faith
Merry Christmas!
It’s a common greeting right now. Yesterday Frankie and I did our annual Christmas shopping. We always do it that way – it started when our kids were really little and we couldn’t get repeated babysitters to come and go and come and go for shopping, so we figured we’d get it all done at once and hire a babysitter for the day. It turned out, we loved the all day hustle and bustle experience and we turned it into a date-day, so it worked out really well for us. It also helped to get us into the holiday mood, which in Texas, when temperatures climb into the low 80’s the week of Christmas, can be difficult!
So, yesterday, off we went. Shopping, shopping, shopping. It was good fun for us, and we accomplished all that we set out to do – there was a deadline and a specific budget so there wasn’t a lot of impulse buying. We’re pretty good under those circumstances…And for the most part, people were nice, friendly, and no one was pushy. One gentleman even had an extra coupon that I didn’t have, and he applied it to my order. Wow!
But I kept thinking about the funny people out there. There’s no other way to say it. Some folks are just plain funny. Get into a crowded place when no one can tell they’re being watched, and you’ll see what I mean. I’m sure people have said that about me, too. One woman was walking down the mall, yelling into her phone, not because it was loud where we were, and not because she was mad, just because. That seemed to be her style of communication. Her clothing style was a bit “loud” too, so I guess that was her personality. One family was trying to get a family Christmas photo taken in the busiest section of the mall. Great backdrop, but not so much luck with the little child focusing on the camera. There were way too many other things to be focusing on – namely the toys that were around. The little girl was very young, so I can’t say that I blame her. It was fun to watch – these little microcosms of people’s lives, and it made me remember a little plaque that my sister had on her wall. She may still have it somewhere. As best as I can remember, it said, “Every time a child is born, it proves that God has not lost faith in the human race.” We’re a funny group, we are, but I agree, and while my dad used to tell me that I was far too trusting for my own good, I’d have to say that based on my shopping yesterday, I haven’t lost faith in us either. Shared coupons, proud living, and sparkles in the eyes of a little child all make me smile and say, Merry Christmas, from me to you.
On that note, our family Christmas card for two years in a row now, has been an electronic one. We’ve skipped the paper version, maybe for good, I’m not sure, but this year we made it interactive. You can add your own favorites, and even click on the some of the images for a little fun, but imagine that you’ve just opened your mail and found our card in your mailbox…(Click on the family photo above to open our card!)
Blessings for a safe and joyous holy-day season as we celebrate the faith and hope in us that God has shown through Jesus….
What Is Wrong With Me?
For some of you, this will come as a jaw-dropping, hold your breath moment. If you know me well, you will know what a shock this is, even to me. Today is November 5th, and I actually uttered these words today; I even spoke them out loud for others to hear. “I think I might be ready for the holidays.”
My daughter immediately quipped, “If she starts singing Christmas songs, we’ll know she’s lost her mind.”
My husband commented, “You went to the grocery store as Camille, but who did you send home in your place?”
You see, I’m one of those that hates, truly despises the commercialization of Christmas and Thanksgiving. Out of sheer rebellion, I have always refused to let the Christmas tree go up before the second week of December if I can avoid it. There’s a mom-issued perpetual moratorium on singing Christmas songs in the house from January 1 through December 10th. That is unless one of my children is trying to playfully irritate me, which of course means that they only need to break into spontaneous singing of Jingle Bells or White Christmas and they’ve done their job. But they don’t do that – often.
For some reason, today, though, it just seemed like a good idea to think about the holidays. But when I started thinking about why I was thinking about them, I came to two conclusions.
- I was hungry and the smell of sweet things coming from the oven was missing in my life. Something must have triggered a memory of cinnamon and spice, and that took me to Pumpkin Pie faster than you can say, “Yes, please.” My solution? Have my oh-so-quick-to-quip daughter bake some chocolate chip cookies. The smell of them is wafting through my office as I type, and I’ve already nibbled on one. If you notice a shift in any of my sentences, that’s because I went away for a minute to get another one.
- I need a change of pace. I think I’m missing the hustle and bustle of getting out of my house more often, running errands here and there, thinking of ways to surprise people and staying up later because I can sleep in later. I don’t have as immediate a solution here, but I’m working on it. Tonight, I might stay up really late and set up pranks all over my home so that my children will be really surprised tomorrow morning. One time, my husband and I snuck into the home of some friends of ours and rearranged all of their furniture, but that’s another story…Yep, I think I’m on to something here…
Either way, I have to reiterate my basic premise that starting the holiday celebrations this early is just too much. Thanksgiving? Okay, but I still can’t endorse celebrating Christmas any earlier than December 1. Oh, wait, did I say the first? I meant the 10th. But the tree might need to go up earlier this year. We’ll see…
Good Feelings
My Christmas cards are in the mail as of yesterday afternoon, which is no small thing for me, and right on time as we near Christmas Day. I get Christmas cards out about every four or five years, and it is such a good feeling when I choose to send cards and actually get them to the post office. Most years, I either choose not to go through the process, or I just don’t put the process high enough on my To Do list, so it doesn’t get done. But, that’s a choice when I do that – not a time management issue, a choice.
That makes me think about the other choices I make; some lead to good feelings and some don’t. I like the ones with good feelings. It makes me go to bed happy when I’ve chosen well on any given day and from there, I usually wake up happy the next morning (unless of course the Great Danes are rowdy overnight, which does occasionally happen, but that’s another story…). When I wake up happy, that is such a good feeling, and so much easier to share with those around me than a bad mood. Don’t get me wrong – I can easily share the bad mood with others, but that’s another “choice” now, isn’t it?
This morning, I woke up singing. That was fun. Then as I headed off to my first appointment, I sang and “grooved” behind the wheel. That was fun, too, and those in the car with me were mildly amused. I might go so far as to say that their day was made a bit happier. Now I know that doesn’t matter to you, but it mattered to them. It gave them a memory of me being silly and sharing my good feelings. Wouldn’t that be a special gift to give others as we approach Christmas time – good feelings memories?
