Where are you Christmas?

Welcome to my blog dear reader! I am so glad you are here. I hope you enjoy your time here.

As the rest of the world goes “back to normal,” after the secular Christmas season, Catholics like myself celebrate until January 6th when we celebrate Epiphany or more simply put the visit of the Three Kings. (Yes, those three kings.) I personally love the fact that Catholics celebrate Christmas into January. We prepare for the majority of the month of December and then we have quite possibly the greatest birthday party of all time for Jesus Christ.

The time of preparation is more or less the same. We buy gifts, prepare specific foods, and some people put up decorations. I know some people like to wait until closer to Christmas or even Christmas Eve to decorate to help keep the mindset of preparation. In my family, we decorate on December 6th, the feast day of St. Nicholas. The night before my siblings and I put one shoe each in the upstairs hallway. After we are all in our rooms my mom and dad fill our shoes with chocolate coins and a new ornament for the Christmas tree. (This year I got a silver unicorn with the words “Life is magical” engraved on one side.) This helps us remember the actions that St. Nicholas took when he would care for the poor. This, in turn, helps us prepare for the Christmas season.

Even though we have kept most of our family traditions alive for my whole childhood and now my young adulthood, Christmas feels different as I grow older. The events leading up to Christmas are almost identical every year. But the feeling has changed. Let me explain this a bit more. There are two Christmas songs that encapsulate my feelings around Christmas very well. They are “Grown-up Christmas List” and “Where are you Christmas?” The feeling of Christmas as a kid sometimes can get lost in the desire for new toys and all the nights where you can stay up late and eat sugar. But as I grew up I’ve lost that. Instead of getting stressed about making Christmas for myself, my stress is now focused on making it a magical and happy time for everyone else. I believe that this is the true spirit of Christmas and of life. We are given things in our lives that are meant to be tools in order to help others achieve their goals. This can even be done through the gifts we give and receive during the Christmas season.

This year for my presents I received dress clothes that I can wear to work, a large travel cup, and snow boots. All very practical gifts for which I had asked. There have been endless jokes online and you might have even heard them in person, dear reader, about the reality of getting socks as a child versus as an adult. But there is a very real reason why more people should want socks for Christmas.

For me, the gifts that I received, as practical things, will help me achieve both my New Year’s Goals that I wrote about last week as well as my goals for work and eventual mental/physical health improvement. I will be able to dress professionally, stay hydrated both while working out and throughout the day, and be able to play in the snow with the little boys that I babysit after school.

Another thing that my family and a lot of other families do around Christmas time is, adopt a needy family who doesn’t have the funds to give their children and spouses the Christmas that they wish. It’s always more fun for me to shop for other people than myself and the idea of a Secret Santa to help someone is even more fun. The idea of giving what we have for those who have none or less is more than just a Christmas idea though. There is still a need that requires satisfying even after the Christmas season. This means continuing to give away your extra clothes and making charitable donations to help all through the winter and through the year. For me, it is not just a Christmas idea, it is a Christ idea. It is a huge part of who I am as a Christian, to follow the example of Jesus and give as He did. As I begin this new year of discovering more about myself and the world around me I want to remember this. I am called to give of myself every day to spread some beauty through love to break up the craziness of life.

☀️💙