“Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons.” – Ruth Ann Schabacker.
December is here. That means Christmas is right around the corner with all the traditional activities. There’s the reason for the season – the birth of the Savior. Shepherds in the field watching their flocks. Angels singing on a starry night. A baby born in a stable and laid in a manger. Wise men bringing gifts. Beautiful images of the greatest gift. Christmas carols and songs that make those holy goosebumps crawl up your back. Kids in bathrobes being shepherds and wise men. Sparkling lights and decorated houses.
I love Christmas. Really I do. It’s just that it has gotten so it comes around so much faster than it used to. Every two of three months or so it seems. And it’s like having a bunch of new deadlines. As a writer I know about deadlines and how the days can fly by when a deadline approaches. Getting ready for Christmas can have its own deadlines. The getting the cards in the mail deadline. Shopping for gifts deadline. Decorating the tree deadline. Baking cookies deadline. Wrapping those gifts deadline. We want to meet those deadlines and keep all the Christmas traditions going. We want to get the gifts that bring smiles. We want to cook all the favorite foods. We want to make the day perfect for everybody.
It’s that making things perfect deadline that is so hard to meet. As much as we want to make things perfect, that rarely happens. The tree is a bit crooked on its stand. The rolls are a little overdone. The cake cracks in the middle. The sweater doesn’t fit. The toy doesn’t entertain. Santa forgets the batteries. Somebody comes down with a virus and spends Christmas sneezing and coughing. You get the idea. All those things have happened to us at some Christmas in the past. But this Christmas you still want things to be perfect. You want Aunt Suzy and Uncle Bill not to argue about politics. You want the kids to be sweet and generous, not overtired and cranky. You want to eat that piece of jam cake with the caramel frosting and not think about the extra five pounds you’ll need to lose next week. You want to say, “Yes, Virginia. There is a Santa Claus.” And so each December you wipe away the less than perfect memories and remember all the wonderful times. You might not remember your favorite gift, but you remember how you felt because you were loved. That’s the tradition we’re all trying to hang on to. The tradition of love.
Hope you’ll meet all your deadlines and find those perfect gifts and most of all that the warm feeling of love will wrap around your family and then it won’t matter so much if Aunt Suzy and Uncle Bill don’t think alike on politics. They’re family and they’re loved. Enjoy the gift of each and every day.
This is a slightly revised repeat of a post from 2008. And I still haven’t achieved that perfection deadline. But I have enjoyed ten more Christmas seasons. Written around a dozen more books. Bought and wrapped many more Christmas presents. Hung Christmas decorations. Baked hundreds of cookies. Enjoyed plenty of grandkid hugs. And had fun getting to know those of you who join the conversation here.
I appreciate you all. So I’m doing a giveaway for you. My newsletter giveaway is still going on, but you deserve an extra Christmas giveaway here for reading my this and that posts. So, I’ll pick a couple of winners on December 16, 2018. Your deadline (there are deadlines for everything) to enter is midnight EST December 15, 2018. To enter, you have to be at least 18 years old and all you have to do to get you name in my drawing hat is leave a comment on my posts between now and the 15th. Each time you comment on a new post before then, you get an entry. The prizes? That has to be books plus. First place winner gets the lighted nativity scene in the picture and his or her choice of one of my books. Second place winner gets his or her choice of one of my books. I’ll try to get them sent out before Christmas so if you win, you can either have them as a gift for yourself or a gift for someone else.
What Christmas tradition do you love the most?
As always thanks for reading.
Comments 45
My favorite Christmas tradition is going to church on Christmas Eve. It is a holy night and the best part of Christmas for me.
Author
Oh Holy Night! You are so right, Joan, that we need to take time to remember and note the holiness of the Christmas holiday. Going to church and worshiping the Lord on Christmas Eve is a wonderful way to celebrate the birth of our Savior.
I love that I can make some people (teen mothers ) feel extra special with my homemade baby blankets. (I’ll send a separate email with some photos.) I also make scarves & hats for the homeless, to help keep them warm during our cold winters. Everyone should feel special & loved. It’s my way to show I care about their situation.
Remember to be thankful in All things!
Author
Thanks for sending the pictures of the blankets you’ve made, Betty. They were very cute and I know much appreciate by the young mothers as they wrapped their babies in the warmth of the blankets. You are so right that everyone should feel loved. What a blessing you are to those with whom you share the things you make.
My favorite tradition is going to Mom and Daddy’s on Christmas evening. We eat then we take turns opening gifts. We go one at a time. It takes forever and I love it! We get to watch each other’s joy as they open their gifts. It is wonderful family time!
Author
So fun that yours and your mother’s favorite Christmas traditions sound a lot the same. 🙂 I do like doing that with my family too, but the grandkids get impatient. But nothing beats family time and Christmas joy.
Have you been eavesdropping at my house, or peeking in my windows? You so perfectly describe what’s happening.
Because my family is scattered across several states, we’ve decided to forgo exchanging gifts. As many as possible try to get together for the laughter, stories, singing, food, and fellowship. And if that’s not possible this year, we share phone calls and ‘adopt’ others who are alone to share a family meal and visit about Christmas traditions and childhood memories.
Author
I promise I wasn’t peeking in your windows, Jolene. 🙂 But we moms and grandmoms seem to be extra busy at Christmas. Sounds like you have it figured out with the family get togethers. Once the kids grow up then getting gifts is harder. My sisters and I quit with the gifts years ago and on my husband’s side of the family we do one of those crazy gift exchanges. That can sometimes be fun.
Hope you have a blessed Christmas with that laughter and stories and more.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Wrap the presents. Bake the cookies. Don’t forget the pastor’s gift. Remember the real reason we are so busy!
Author
Love it, Nancy. I need to print that out and tack it over my desk. Except that tick tock tick tock might get scary after a while. LOL. And yes, I did remember to get the pastor a card that all of us as church can put some green into. Yes, we do need to keep in mind the reason for the season.
I just love getting together with my family. Most of the next generation and their kids go to their other families on Christmas, so it’s mainly just my parents and 5 siblings and spouses. We don’t do presents, except getting together for mom and dad (like a new kitchen stovetop last year). And we just carry in soup and sandwiches and sides, so nothing fancy. But we still have my 80+ year old parents and each other.
Author
That sounds the best, Kathy. It’s so good to still get together as a family with your parents. I know they cherish those Christmases with all of you. We don’t have our parents any longer, but we still try to get together with the siblings on each side of the family sometime during Christmas. Sometimes the kids get to show up for a while too. Right now my kids and grandkids all get to come home sometime during Christmas. But soon those grandkids will be grown and have their own families and then traditions will have to change. That’s how life is – a constant changing.
I think my favorite tradition is decorating the tree with my husband and kids. Christmas music plays and everyone hangs their favorite ornaments. Baking cookies and driving around looking at lights is another favorite. Anything that we can do as a family. Making happy memories at a time of year that gives us so much to be thankful for as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour.
Author
Celebrating the birth of Christ as a family is the best, Hope. Christmas is such a special time to make those family memories. I can’t say that decorating the tree is a favorite for me. That is, unless the grandkids come to help. I do remember some good times helping my aunt decorate her tree at Christmas time when I was a kid. Great memories.
My favorite Christmas tradition is looking at Christmas lights then coming home to watch Christmas movies and drinking hot chocolate.
Author
That sounds like fun, Steph. I appreciate all those who go the extra mile to decorate their houses so some of us not so good at decorating can enjoy the view. Christmas movies and hot chocolate sounds pretty good too. Can I have some popcorn too? 🙂
The Christmas tradition I enjoy the most is when our family gets together for a great meal and then opens gifts. It is hard to believe how fast time passes as we get older. We lose a few family members and then we gain a few. Just gained a great, great, niece this past Nov. 6.
Author
I’m a great great aunt too, Connie. And we had two babies born this fall – both great great nieces. I rarely see them since both the families live out of state, but that’s the great thing about Facebook. I get to watch them grow up in pictures. So that’s fun. I’m not sure how many we have in the Gabhart family now if we stop and count everybody, but it’s a bunch. They are gathering at my house this year, but not everybody comes. If they did, we’d need more room. 🙂 But I do enjoy getting together with those who can make it.
One of my favorite Christmas traditions will take place tomorrow night. My husband and I like to drive down to Nashville to attend a Christmas concert at Historic Lindsley Avenue Church of Christ. Instead of selling tickets, they ask that everyone brings an unwrapped toy for a needy child.
Author
What a special thing to do at Christmas time, Tammy. And since it’s early in the month, it can get you going on the Christmas spirit. May each child find a little magic under their Christmas tree.
I think I need to make a list after reading your post, Ann. Deadlines. . . Each day slips away hour by hour and I don’t seem to accomplish all I had planned. Thank you for your inspiration, thank you for your books, your blog, your drawings, your family stories. You bring sunshine to so many lives.
Author
What a sweet gift to give me, Becky. I like that you think I bring sunshine. I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed my stories and that you join the conversation here. I will admit that when I read those thanks for my drawings, it took me a minute as I wondered when I had ever drawn anything. LOL. Oh yeah, the giveaway drawings. Sometimes I’m a little slow on the uptake. As to those deadlines, I’m not doing so hot with them either.
Ann, I thought the same thing when I wrote the comment about drawings.
But . . . you draw with your words. Your readers create their own pictures behind their eyes. And, you draw people together with your stories, people you may not know comment on your blogs, and others reply in their own way. You also draw your family members, your friends, community members, church groups, book clubs together for many different reasons. Thank you for your power of drawing us together. Thank you for your drawings.
I love getting the family together, and the Candlelight Service on Christmas Eve.
Have a wonderful Christmas Season!
Author
Family visits are the best, Paula. And our little church has a candlelight service that I enjoy every year. We don’t do ours on Christmas Eve, but it’s still a lovely service. I have attended a late night candlelight service in years past on Christmas Eve where the congregation quietly leaves the church as the church bells are chiming the midnight hour. That is a lovely service too.
My favorite Christmas tradition is Dad dad reads the Nativity Story from the Gospel of Luke on Christmas morning before we open presents as a family. While Dad reads, we eat the sausage rolls that Mom only makes for Christmas morning. Merry Christmas,Ann! 🙂 What’s your favorite Christmas tradition? 🎄Luke 1 & 2🎄
Author
That sounds like a wonderful tradition, Emily, and a way to keep the focus on the reason we celebrate Christmas. And it’s neat to have that favorite food that you only get on Christmas. I usually have cinnamon rolls that I don’t make often. Sausage rolls are probably better for you. 🙂
i love your books
Author
Thank you so much, Julie. I so appreciate you letting me know you’ve enjoyed reading my stories. Merry Christmas!
I think my favorite Christmas tradition is singing carols. We were missionaries in Hong Kong for 19 years, and someone there pointed out that Christianity is the one religion with lots of music, and joyful music!
Author
Joy to the world, Margaret. I love the Christmas music too. And what a very special way to soak up the Christmas spirit with the beautiful words in those carols.
My favorite Christmas tradition is breakfast with my grands on Christmas morning after Santa has come.
Author
That sounds like a great tradition, Melanie. Christmas morning breakfast is a tradition we used to have, but now with the kids having kids of their own and one family living too far away to come for breakfast and the other family having other grandmothers to visit, we don’t do that anymore with the whole family. But my daughter and her husband are still here on some Christmas morning and so we enjoy those homemade cinnamon rolls then. Hope I get them made this year.
Well ,that was a perfect explanation of our Christmas expectations.
My favorite Christmas tradition is us taking turns opening presents starting youngest to oldest and keep going around til all gifts are open. Now that the kids are married, and have kids plus those kids have boyfriends and girlfriends and more kids it takes longer but I still love it! I love watching the joy of someone I love opening what I hope is the perfect gift!
Merry Christmas to all that reads this!
Author
I love doing that too, Lisa. Haven’t been able to talk my kids into making their kids do that, but I do make the adults take turns. If we didn’t do that, things would be so crazy that I’d miss half of the present opening. Still miss some since something is always going on. And now I have crazy Frankie to keep out of the fray. But it’s always fun.
Beautiful, Ann! I wasn’t reading your posts in 2008 as I had not yet discovered you as a favorite author. So this newsletter was new to me. Even though it reminded me of ALL those deadlines I still loved reading it. We are awaiting the arrival from Japan of our daughter before we decorate our tree. The house seems rather drab without it as when she is stateside she and I decorate the day after Thanksgiving. We are excited to have her home for the holidays. The big day is this coming Tuesday!!! Pray for safe travel for her. It’s a long flight—about 16 hours! Have a very merry Christmas and a blessed New Year! By the way, two of our grandchildren brought their new puppy over to meet us this past weekend. This is number three for them! Such a cutie! Good luck to all in the drawing for one of your wonderful books! 😊🌲😊
Author
Prayers for your daughter’s safe travel, Karen. I know you are excited to have her hope. Japan is so far away. But you’re going to have some good weeks with her as you decorate and enjoy Christmas together. So good to have those grandkids a bit closer so they can share some fun times with you. Puppies are always fun.
I have over a thousand posts here. So I was searching through to see if I’d already written this one idea I had last night. And then I saw this post and while it wasn’t the idea I was considering, it seemed like a good one to repeat. I so appreciate you reading my books now.
I love this post, Ann! You’ve completely captured the loveliness of Christmas, as well as the frantic last minute deadlines.
Our family started a tradition a few years ago of wearing new fleece pajamas to our family get together each year. One of my daughter-in-laws overheard my mother say that she’s most comfy in her pjs. So she told her to wear them at our celebration…and everyone else could too! Now my daughter and sons’ wives compete to see who will get their Nanny new Christmas pjs every year.
It does indeed seem like Christmas rolls around faster each year. But since it’s such a joyous occasion, I don’t mind…except for that frantic last minute stuff! 😉
Author
The PJ family Christmas, Lavon. That’s fun. My brother-in-law’s do something the same. They have a family of five daughters and now granddaughters have added to the number. So they all wear the craziest Christmas leggings they can find. They haven’t gotten the guys in on that yet. Leggings and guys don’t work. Maybe they should be wearing crazy sweaters. 🙂 But the pajamas sound comfortable and the kids are all ready for bed at the end of the day. Well, I guess everybody is. I like your attitude about welcoming Christmas. It is a time of joy.
christmas carolling then coming home to hot chocolate and oprning 1 gift on christmas eve
Author
That does sound fun, Shelia. It’s been a long time since I’ve been Christmas caroling but that is such a great way to up the Christmas spirit. While some of those carols seem to be hard to sing most of us can make it through the first verses of all of them. I think “Joy to the World” is the one I like to sing the most. Maybe I’ll do a post about carols. Of course, whether I go out caroling or not, I can still enjoy that hot chocolate. Yum. And it’s always exciting to open one gift. Do you get to pick the one you want to open?