Seven Things I've Enjoyed Doing this Christmas

It's Christmas time, one of my favorite times of the year, even if I DO hate the cold...

It's easy to get so caught up in all the "preparation" for Christmas that we never take time to actually enjoy the holiday itself...I'm sometimes guilty of that, no question...shopping, wrapping, decorating, baking all become the "important" stuff and suddenly it's Christmas Day and it's all just been one big blur and now it's OVER.
So it's important to take some time to ENJOY the season, not just "get ready" for it. To that end, these are some things I've done to really experience Christmas this year:
1. Our Choir Presentation--we did a presentation called "Peace on Earth" and I won't say it was my favorite, cause it wasn't, but I just love being a part of this. It's not just the final product, either--I actually enjoy the preparation part, learning the songs, singing them to myself over and over and reflecting on what they really say. I really don't sing well at all, but I am fortunate to be a part of the opportunity to just lift our voices in praise.
2. The Hanging of the Green service--this is one of my favorite services we have all year; we spend the service decorating the sanctuary--lots of different people get to participate, from kids to senior adults, and as each decoration goes up, we hear stories about how it came to be used in association with Christmas. And by the time it's over, our sanctuary looks like Christmas!!
3. The Living Christmas Tree--this is the second year my friends and I have gone to this, and I just love it. It is a production put on by another area church, but it's so big they do it at the University of Tennessee Basketball Arena! The "centerpiece" of the presentation is a HUGE Christmas tree structure that the choir actually climbs up into, so that the whole choir essentially forms a "living" tree shape. The presentation itself is usually a whole musical production--this year it was called "One Solitary Life" and showed in drama and song, the entire life of Christ. It was a good reminder that we celebrate Christmas, not just because of a baby born in a manger, but because of the life that baby lived, the death He suffered, and the victory He achieved for all of us! "He is Risen" should be the proclamation of Christmas as well as Easter.
4. Christmas Parties--I've gone to three this year, if you include the dinner and lightseeing trip with my friends (which I do...count it, that is). It's just a fun time to relax and enjoy the company of friends...even if we did have to spend one of them watching our Vols LOSE to LSU!
5. Surprises--I love surprises...when they involved being the recipient of something unexpected, it's sometimes hard for me to be a gracious "accepter" instead of just a giver...
This year has been a difficult one, financially, and some friends stepped in and played "Santa," providing something for my kids that I simply could not have done on my own. That means more to me than anything anyone could ever give me for myself...
6. Quiet moments--Sometimes, we just need to quit rushing and SIT. One of my absolute favorite things to do at Christmas is go into the living room late at night and turn off all the lights except for the Christmas tree, then just sit and look at the tree, the nativities (I have a bunch...) and enjoy the moment.
7. Christmas Eve--okay, so this hasn't happened yet, but I know I WILL do it (unless God has other plans) the same way as I've done it every year of my life. Our family will gather, eat dinner and then we will all sing Christmas songs--each person, starting with the youngest, gets to pick a song they want to hear and we all sing along. We're terrible singers, but it is one of the best moments of the whole year, because it is family time--we sing, we share memories, we just enjoy each other. It far surpasses the Christmas morning gift-opening as my favorite part of the season!