Wednesday, December 17, 2008

It's why I celebrate the day.





This is so weird. . . I have no school. 

Hence I'm going to write a long post. 

Or attempt to. 

I'm going to talk about my love of Christmas. Not the giddy love of Christmas, but why I get giddy about Christmas and why I think everyone else should too. 

There are so many reasons. . . 

I've grown up in a very Christmasy family. We decorate a lot, and celebrate many many traditions. 

Christmas movies, cookies, Lucia Day, door chocolates, gingerbread houses, paper chains, snow flakes, games, and just spending massive amounts of time together so at the end of December we might throw up if we have to look at someone in our family ever again. 

We always get a real tree, and decorate it. . . the night usually ends with Maddy crying because I moved where she put one of the ornaments (I'm sorry, there are some things my OCD does not allow. . .two ornaments on the same branch? No.) 

These aren't all the reasons I get giddy about Christmas. 

My family is Swedish, and being Swedish, we celebrate Christmas with my dad's family on Christmas Eve. This involves great things, great food, drinking songs, dancing around the house, a visit from Tomte (AKA creepy creepy santa), gift exchanges, laughter and speeches. 

These aren't the reasons I get giddy about Christmas either. 

Christmas day is so fun, we wake up early, open our stockings, laugh, drink yummy things, eat yummy things, lay around in our PJs until we are so disgusted with ourselves that we MUST get dressed. We wait for the rest of the family to come over, the kids always bring their favorite present to show off, the house is festive and excited for the happiest day of the year. We open presents from each other, eat more yummy food, laugh more, laugh harder, die from laughing, usually more yummy food is eaten here. The night goes on until we are all too tired, or the kids have had a melt down. 

These still aren't the reason I get giddy about Christmas. 

Sure, I love all these things, I love the season and joy, and kindness it brings. 

But the reason I can enjoy any of these things is because I can first and foremost celebrate the birth of a tiny baby that would grow up, live a perfect life, and die for me. 

That is why I'm giddy. Christmas means that I have life, and I have a joy that will never die. 

My savior, the king of my life, was born.

"And it was always said that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that truly be said of us, and all of us."
 -A Christmas Carol

2 comments:

Ri. Short for Maria. Not pronounced like the bread. said...

Amen.

Em, I just love you to pieces. I want Liam to grow up to be the rugged, male version of you, and then marry mini-you.

Merry Christmas. And God Bless us...everyone.

Emily the Magnificent. said...

Haha, rugged, male version of me. . I love you too =)