Where Are You, Christmas?

I was listening to the radio the other day and heard one of my new favorite Christmas songs by Faith Hill. It's called Where Are You, Christmas?, and it was written for the soundtrack of the 2000 film,  How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Ron Howard's spin on the classic tale by Dr. Seuss. Unlike the book, much of the film centers around Cindy Lou Who and her quest for what Christmas is all about. The song is sung by her character in the film. The first lyrics are: Where are you, Christmas?
               Why can't I find you?
               Why have you gone away?
               Where is the laughter you used to bring me?
               Why can't I hear music play?
I must confess that I have felt much like Cindy Lou Who this year. You would think that given the fact that I am performing in a "Christmas" show that I would be more in the Christmas spirit than any other year, but I'm just not. Somewhere along the way, I lost the wonder and excitement. Maybe part of it is the fact that every day, almost every moment is filled with something I have to do instead of something I want to do. I am usually the first to jump on the Christmas band wagon. Day after Thanksgiving my tree is up and decorated. My flag is out front. My wreath is on the door. Not this year! My tree is up and the lights on, but that is it, and it's sitting in the midst of my messy house. Now, to cut myself a little slack, we ran out of time to decorate before my oldest daughter had to be back at college after the Thanksgiving break, and so we have held off to do it as a family, but Christmas is creeping closer and closer. We have 14 days before the big day. If I decorated it tonight it would only be up for two weeks before it all was over. When did decorating for Christmas become a chore? Time was when I couldn't wait to decorate the tree! Where are you, Christmas? Why do I jam my life so full of going here and having to be there that I have no time to just enjoy what I used to love? Why can't I find you? I was watching a little Christmas movie last night, and it took place in a small, quaint little town. That's what I want! I want to live in the movies. I want to live in Bedford Falls or Stars Hollow, but I don't, so what do I do?
Today a company called Westjet propelled me, no pun intended, out of my funk and into what Christmas is all about, the spirit of giving. Watch the video below.

What an amazing thing this company did to bring joy to these families! Where are you, Christmas? Westjet knows. They found you and brought you to others, and that's what I need to remember! Thank you for reminding me that it's not about me! The joy of Christmas is found in the giving of myself to others.
                                                     

Christmas Gets a Bad "Wrap"

I am so sick of everyone saying, "Christmas has gotten too commercial." You're absolutely right! The Christmas season has become driven by money and spending and having the latest electronics and the most lights, and the biggest tree, and on, and on, and on. But Christmas, itself, is what you make it. I posted a couple of weeks ago about how much I love Christmas. I do! I love the music, the decorations, the surprises, the warm feeling I get on Christmas Eve when we sing "Silent Night" by candlelight, and everyone raises their candles and the Church sanctuary is bathed in a soft glow, and I never make it past the first verse because I'm crying. I like unwrapping each ornament to put on the tree and let the memories it brings wash over me like a flood, some happy, some bittersweet. Call me sappy, but I think it's a magical time. I always have. There is a lot of pressure to BUY! BUY! BUY!, but we don't have to give into that and let it bring us and everyone else around us down.
Dr. Seuss said it best in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas":
                "Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more."
Make Christmas, this year, what YOU want it to be.