The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I love the Christmas season. I look forward to it all year. To me Christmas means cold weather in Northern California and a house full of extended family laughing together, playing games, and exchanging gifts. Laughter is what I really think of. A house full of teasing, loving, and laughter. Christmas time to me isn’t really about Jesus. I try to make everyday about Jesus and every moment of every Sunday is about God’s grace to us in Jesus.

Christmas is different. Certain Christmas songs will, indeed, cause me to really think about the incarnation of Christ and bring joy to my heart. O Holy Night is my favorite Christmas hymn (Fall on Your Knees!).

To me though, Christmas is also Bing Crosby’s Christmas album and my other 12+ hours of Christmas music on my computer. It is bright lights of red and green. It is classic movies, my perennial choices being “A Christmas Story”, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “Miracle on 34th Street”, “Christmas Vacation”, “A Christmas Carol” (almost any version) and “Elf”.

A particular memory sticks in my head and I don’t know why, but I think of it all the time. I remember riding with my dad in his truck many years ago. It was summer time, probably around July, and he saw a red light and said “That light reminds me of Christmas. I can’t wait for Christmas.” I remember thinking that my dad loves Christmas as much as I do and I knew it wasn’t about the presents. I didn’t even care that much about the presents. I cared about the love…and the laughter.

So that’s what Christmas means to me. I know this isn’t what it represents for many others. For many Christmastime can be a time of depression, broken families, or “religion”. I feel sad for these people and I know in my heart that Christmas isn’t that important. There’s a lot more to life than all these things, but what I can I say, I love Christmas…just love it.

Update: I just thought of something after re-reading this post. In the movie The Natural there is a scene where Roy Hobbs wants to say he misses his dad, but instead says “I love baseball”. When I say I love Christmas I’m really saying I love my dad (and my family)

Juice