have yourself a merry little Christmas

Dear Friends and Readers,

It's Christmas Eve and I'm thinking about this holiday and how much it means to me.  It's always been my favorite holiday, even with all the chaos that's always surrounded it as a child and now that I have children of my own.  As we celebrate the birth of our Savior and reflect on what that means in our own lives, I hope you will take the time to tell the people close to you what they mean to you.  While wrapping presents today, I asked my daughters what Christmas is all about and I was so happy to hear them say it's about Jesus' birth and giving.  It was a proud mom moment.

Being that I'm not actually Santa Claus, I knew it would be impossible give each of you a gift personally, but I hope this will do.  I'm posting two videos that say Christmas to me and I hope you enjoy them.  The first is my favorite Christmas song, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," this is the Coldplay version.  A few hundred versions are out there, I have  my favorites and I like this one.  The Judy Garland original is awesome, and although I love Ella Fitzgerald's version, it's a little too up tempo for my present mood, which is reflective and actually peaceful. All of the covers of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" are for your Tunes Tuesday.  Go visit YouTube for a few dozen versions.  Sinatra's is fab, but pass on Xtina Aguilera.  Here' the lyrics for you in case you haven't committed them to memory. 

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
From now on, our troubles will be out of sight

Through the years, we all will be together
If the fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now

That's Christmas.  That's what this holiday is to me: friends, family, and forgetting your troubles while you're together. 

The second video is one of the best pieces of television ever aired. 
It's Linus' speech from the Charlie Brown Christmas Special.  I've been
watching it my entire life and it always brings me joy at Christmas. 
The way Linus quotes the book of Luke and then tells Charlie Brown, "that's what Christmas is all about" is pure Christmas Magic.  There's something about the belief of a child that trivializes your
worries and brings things into perspective that makes all the chaos and insanity of the weeks before Christmas melt away.  I hear it in my children's voices.  To hear my daughters say Christmas is about giving is immensely gratifying and lovely to a mother's ear.  It makes me think maybe they are listening to me after all, maybe the commercialism of the season isn't ruining the meaning of Christmas after all.  That is a blessing and I am grateful for that. 

I am also grateful for each and everyone who reads this blog.  I wanted to thank you for spending some of your time with me and tell
all of you how much I appreciate your comments and emails.  The words
I've head from you make writing worth it.  I have such wonderful
friends and readers, y'all are just superfantastic and I wish you the merriest of Christmases. 

Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night,
Kerry