 |
| Classy black and white ornaments at Indigo. |
Words of encouragement are a powerful motivator. A friend of mine who is a regular visitor of my blog (I hope he is!) messaged me with some encouraging words. I told him how I've been slacking off and how I didn't feel good about it. He said that it's impressive how I've been keeping it up every single day and that "it sounds genuine and every time he reads it and he is blessed." Thanks friend, for your kind words. It is honestly really encouraging and it motivates me to get back to blogging with a sincere heart.
In order to do that, I got a photo for today's post. I went to one of my favourite shops, Indigo, and browsed around while I waited for my friend to arrive. It was very Christmasy. All the decorations were in red, green and white. Everything looks sparkly and beautiful... and here comes the dilemma that I face every single year. The question of the "holiday spirit"- I shared a little bit about this before (and most likely, I will talk about it again.) I'm already listening and singing along to Christmas carols. I'm already thinking about Christmas card and baking ideas. I already decorated my room with Christmas ornaments. Yeah sure it is nice, but I need to remind myself that this isn't the meaning of Christmas. I mean, of course I know the true meaning of Christmas and the reason why we're celebrating it. That certainly has to be the main focus, and I know that won't change. I don't think I go too crazy about having the holiday spirit and all the worldy Christmas celebration, at least, not anymore. Certain things I grew out of it for instance, having the presents underneath the tree (but this will come back when I get married and have kids)... hmm actually, that's the only thing I don't do anymore.
I used to imagine my perfect Christmas being like this: waking up to my children calling out "mommy! daddy! it's Christmas!" and our family gathering in front of the Christmas tree that all of us decorated together, watching the children opening their presents while my husband and I sip on our warm cup of tea, while listening to White Christmas by Eddie Higgins trio, and through the window, I see the snow softly falling. There will be joy and warmth in my family.
However, the sad part is that my picture perfect Christmas morning has nothing to do with the most important person of Christmas. Why in the world did I take Jesus out of my Christmas, and called it the "perfect Christmas?" However, that's what western culture is about. If I'm not wrong, a lot of North American churches don't have service on Christmas day. Most of churches have Christmas Eve services but not on the day of Christmas. Why is that? Perhaps there is a deeper meaning behind it. If I'm wrong, please correct me. Without knowing the details, I can easily conclude that there is no service on the 25th, unless Christmas falls on a Sunday, because Christmas is meant to be celebrated with your family. That's my opinion. Therefore, in some way, I don't think my dream of Christmas is wrong, because family is an important part of Christmas. I mean, I don't think there is right or wrong answer to this discussion. In some degree, I do still want to have my "perfect" Christmas morning with my family one day. But that won't be the end of it. Before we even get into the whole holiday spirit and the decorations and what not, I will tell my children about the true meaning of Christmas and why we are indeed celebrating it. I hope I can show my children a glipse of God's love for us and how we need to share not only the love we received but also our time and the posessions every day, but especially through Christmas.
In order to do that, I got a photo for today's post. I went to one of my favourite shops, Indigo, and browsed around while I waited for my friend to arrive. It was very Christmasy. All the decorations were in red, green and white. Everything looks sparkly and beautiful... and here comes the dilemma that I face every single year. The question of the "holiday spirit"- I shared a little bit about this before (and most likely, I will talk about it again.) I'm already listening and singing along to Christmas carols. I'm already thinking about Christmas card and baking ideas. I already decorated my room with Christmas ornaments. Yeah sure it is nice, but I need to remind myself that this isn't the meaning of Christmas. I mean, of course I know the true meaning of Christmas and the reason why we're celebrating it. That certainly has to be the main focus, and I know that won't change. I don't think I go too crazy about having the holiday spirit and all the worldy Christmas celebration, at least, not anymore. Certain things I grew out of it for instance, having the presents underneath the tree (but this will come back when I get married and have kids)... hmm actually, that's the only thing I don't do anymore.
I used to imagine my perfect Christmas being like this: waking up to my children calling out "mommy! daddy! it's Christmas!" and our family gathering in front of the Christmas tree that all of us decorated together, watching the children opening their presents while my husband and I sip on our warm cup of tea, while listening to White Christmas by Eddie Higgins trio, and through the window, I see the snow softly falling. There will be joy and warmth in my family.
However, the sad part is that my picture perfect Christmas morning has nothing to do with the most important person of Christmas. Why in the world did I take Jesus out of my Christmas, and called it the "perfect Christmas?" However, that's what western culture is about. If I'm not wrong, a lot of North American churches don't have service on Christmas day. Most of churches have Christmas Eve services but not on the day of Christmas. Why is that? Perhaps there is a deeper meaning behind it. If I'm wrong, please correct me. Without knowing the details, I can easily conclude that there is no service on the 25th, unless Christmas falls on a Sunday, because Christmas is meant to be celebrated with your family. That's my opinion. Therefore, in some way, I don't think my dream of Christmas is wrong, because family is an important part of Christmas. I mean, I don't think there is right or wrong answer to this discussion. In some degree, I do still want to have my "perfect" Christmas morning with my family one day. But that won't be the end of it. Before we even get into the whole holiday spirit and the decorations and what not, I will tell my children about the true meaning of Christmas and why we are indeed celebrating it. I hope I can show my children a glipse of God's love for us and how we need to share not only the love we received but also our time and the posessions every day, but especially through Christmas.
No comments:
Post a Comment