tis the season

{photo credit}

it’s the christmas season! we have our apartment decorated with tiny tinsel trees, pink vintage bulb ornaments, and on our coffee table is a picture book called christmastime in new york city. i have not been to nyc during the holiday season, but based soley on the illustrated pictures in this book, i think i would like it very much.

christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. my faith plays a big part of why i love it so much. i think the lyrics to "o holy night" capture it perfectly. “a thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices!” Christ is that thrill of hope. in a world that is filled with hatred, war, crime, depression, and inequality, there is hope. it stands strong against my darkest days and my longest nights. it buoys me when i feel like i am sinking. it is the reason that i sing JOY to the world. 

i also enjoy this season because of how it seems to transform daily life into something a bit more magical. twinkle lights strung on front porches lend a soft glow to the passerby on the street. packages big and small are stacked in piles under the branches of the evergreen. community members come together to help those who might need an extra hand during this time of the year. family members and friends fly across the country and across the world to be with the ones they love. 

this holiday holds special memories from seasons past. there was the year my brother surprised us and came home early from where he was stationed in the air force to spend christmas with us. there was the year my dad built an entire toboggan run down the hill in our backyard. he carved the route for hours, scraping and smoothing the snow down to a slick track. we spent the rest of the day riding down the hill, screaming at the top of our lungs as the cold air stung our red faces. one year, when i was probably six or seven, the only thing i wanted was a new kids on the block wallet. i opened all my gifts in eager anticipation of finding this coveted status symbol and was dismayed when i didn’t find it under the tree. but santa is a tricky fellow. there was one last gift hiding with my name on it, and when i opened it, the baby faced boy band was smiling up at me in the form of a plastic, velcro-secured wallet. my belief in santa was firmly secured. 

this year, christmas day will be celebrated a little different as my dad is in idaho and will not be here to celebrate with us. we will wish each other “merry christmas!” across telephone wires. my older brother is dating someone special, and i’m sure the length of his visit with us will be cut short as he will be juggling the holiday between two families. but it doesn’t matter. the point of christmas is not that every tradition stays the same year after year after year. the point of christmas is joy, hope, thankfulness, celebration, love, family. 

what are your plans for the holidays? is it a special time for you? do you have any favorite holiday memories?