Why I Enjoy Christmas All Year Long!

I have always loved Christmas! I’ve been teased about listening to Christmas music all year round. This last year, because of covid and all the restrictions of not being able to socialize, I had lots of time to really start thinking about what it is that makes Christmas so special to me.

Birthday,Gifts or Food?

It’s not just because my birthday is 2 days after, growing up I never could have a birthday party with my friends because we always had a gathering on that day. Not that birthday parties were something my parents could afford for all 8 of us siblings. On the other side, having a gathering meant that I got acknowledged more then my siblings because lots of my cousins were down and they all wished me a happy birthday so that was special.

It’s also not because of getting presents that I love Christmas even though the world strongly stresses that it’s all about getting, and deserving this or that. The excitement of getting up in the morning and seeing what we got was definitely a highlight. The first sibling that got up would wake the others, usually just the older ones though, and then we’d sneak into the kitchen and see if santa had already been there. We had set out bowls at our usual places at the dinning table the night before. In the morning it would be filled with goodies and our presents would be on, in or around our spots. Before we could actually look at any of it we had to wake everyone up and go to my parents bedroom and recite our Christmas verses that we learned for the Sunday School Christmas program. Oh did I mention that this could not be before 5am!!

Oh the food we enjoyed! Again not the reason but wow there was always an abundance of special food. Treats in the goodie bags from school and Sunday school. Christmas morning breakfast consisted of cookies of all kinds, and desserts and we didn’t even have to eat just cereal or buns. Then the gatherings started, December 25,26 & 27th,the later years it downsized to 2 gatherings. 3 different gatherings and always for lunch and supper. Those were yummy times!

Maybe it was all the prep work for the holidays! The whole house got a cleaning from top to bottom. All the walls got wiped down, the ceilings, the cupboards got cleaned inside and out. Everything was so fresh. Sometimes we even convinced mom to let us put up some Christmas decorations, then it really added to the excitement. When the house was clean we started with the baking. cookies and cookies and more cookies, cinnamon buns, bread, and lots of yummy stuff. Mom’s freezers were often to full so she’d put the cookies into ice cream pails and bring them into the garage to freeze there since it wasn’t insulated. Good times, lots of warm memories.

Those are some memories of my childhood Christmases and I really cherish them but realize that that is not why I have this comfort when I think of Christmas in March or on a cloudy day in June or a cool rainy day in September. Now that I’m older and have a family of my own all those types of activities are ones I’m responsible for creating for my family and I realize how hard that is sometimes, and to do it with a positive and happy attitude. I fail often at most of those. I want and need to thank my parents for giving me those blessed Christmases.

So as I ponder about what it is that makes me sing Christmas all year round I came to a very surprising realization. Christmas started in March!

When we first got married and then a couple of months later found out we were expecting our first child we didn’t wait till she was born to tell others, and it wasn’t like nothing happened from then till her birth date. Many changes happened and we were excited to share with family and close friends. We also rejoiced when they were in the family way.

Jesus’ birth was an exceptional one. The conception was one of a kind and has never repeated since. Can you imagine being chosen by God Himself to be the mother of such a Holy child! WOW! And the uncertainty of how people were going to responded because she wasn’t married yet, but engaged and a virgin. She was filled with the holy spirit so she rejoiced. Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth and they both rejoiced with each other because they both were having miracle babies. I am now assuming that her pregnancy was a normal one and that she went through the normal stages that most woman go through. The first movements, the kicks, punches and rolling around inside. All the awkward moving around in the later stages with being large with child. We read that in her last month she and her now husband had to travel a fair distance by donkey to their home town because of government rules. Once they get there they were told because of the censes where everyone had to go to their home towns there was no room in any Inns so the only place available for them was in a stable. At this point, Joseph, Mary’s husband took what was available because Mary was in labor and they needed some shelter. She gave birth to her first child in a stable and his first bed was a cradle where animals get fed in. Not quit the way most of us delivered our children.

That is the day we all celebrate as Christmas- Jesus’ birthday. Again, why do I enjoy Christmas all year long? I believe that rejoicing with others in their time of joy comes from deep within and being happy for someones pregnancy is a blessing. So now God ‘s Son was born, everyone celebrated and went on with their lives, right? That is what we do now a days, Celebrate at Christmas and before the new year everyone cleans up their decorations, puts the Christmas music away and wants to forget about it till next year or when the bills come because of over spending. Forget the whole Holiday because maybe we didn’t get the gifts we had our heart so set on or that special someone disappointed us. First we get anxious that we won’t be able to give our loved ones the Christmas that they really want and then we get disappointed or even depressed that things didn’t turn out perfect. We put so much weight on this special day that we forget who we are celebrating it for. Then the day after we re left empty. I know because I’ve been there.

So what I’m getting at here is that the rejoicing should start when the angle came to Mary 9 months before Jesus was born and then anticipation leading up to the day of His birth, but not end there because that was only the beginning. When our children are born it’s not the end of them it’s the beginning of their lives and so it was also with Jesus! Celebrating Him through out the year should just be natural.