Sentimental Christmas Ramblings

“The streets were crowded with sleighs and cutters. Chiming bells added to the Christmassey feeling in the air.”
-Betsy and Tacy go Downtown - Maud Hart Lovelace

​I always love it when people begin decorating their houses with Christmas lights and soft strains of Christmas carols begin to float through the air. Some people hate it, they say it comes to soon, but for me, it can’t come soon enough.

This is my time of the year. The time when I feel most myself. The time when everyone is unashamedly joyful, and we stop for a moment to bring beauty into our hearts and homes. 
    
​Christmas is the most perfect time of year. I love how we celebrate light in the darkest month. We celebrate hope as our gardens die, we celebrate giving as the abundance wanes away. 

 I think that is so beautiful. It reminds me of what Jesus did. Jesus brought light into darkness, he didn’t wait for us to get ourselves together, he brought the light while we were dwelling in darkness. He gave us life while we were dying. 
  
​ I love the way the downtowns feel this time of year. Growing up my small town would have a holiday festival. There would be chestnuts literally roasting on an open fire, carolers, hot chocolate and cider, horse drawn carriage rides and Santa. It was one of the most joyful nights of the year. Running around with friends, singing carols at the top of our lungs, and bathing our insides in sugar. It’s funny how songs remind us of of things, “Silver Bells” always reminds me of that night with “children laughing, people passing… and above all the bustle you’ll hear, silver bells.”

Also growing up, my siblings and I would participate in a homeschooler's Christmas musical. It was the one thing all of our friends would look forward to. We would start in September, vying for roles and solos, learning the entire show by heart. Then, once the show was learned, rehearsed, and as near perfect as a show like that can get, we would go down to local convalescent homes and perform. The show would culminate with a larger scale production for the entire church. Some of my fondest memories come from being in that show, learning songs no one else cares to know, making inside jokes to last the course of our whole lives. 
    
And of course, in the pre-Christmas preparations, there would be Christmas shopping. My siblings and I had a master way of shopping. With no more than fifty dollars a piece, we would go to the dollar store and buy the perfect gifts for ALL of our friends and family. We would each take a shopping basket and put our coats on top of our selections, hiding them from each other. 
  
A big part of Christmas is the time that comes before, some of the dearest traditions take place in the time that comes before, each moment foreshadowing the beautiful morning to come. 

“ ‘Children! Get some sleep! Remember tomorrow’s Christmas.’ Remember tomorrow’s Christmas! As though they could forget it!”
Betsy and Tacy go Downtown - Maud Hart Lovelace

Christmas Eve, I believe, is the day all enchanted fairy tales occurred. It’s the night Cinderella had to rush home from the ball, it’s the night the twelve dancing princesses would dance into a magical world, it’s the night beauty fell in love with the beast. It’s the night where Clara discovered her nutcracker was a prince, it’s the night where sugarplums dance in our heads, it’s the night when Santa’s reindeer gain flight and travel all over the world. 

To a child, whether they believe in Santa and magic or not, Christmas Eve is the most exciting night of the year. For me, Christmas Eve was always the teaser for Christmas
 
We would go to my Nana’s house with my cousins, everything would happen the same way. The tree would be lit, there would be boxes all around the living room, and the animatronic snowman would sing (and annoy Grandpa.) But the most enchanting part of Christmas Eve was the going home. 
    
I never could lay still. Wishing and hoping that the things I wanted most would be there on Christmas morning. I would listen for the sound of stockings being filled, and if I got up in the night I would try to notice any particular bulges in my stocking. The air was always filled with hopeful anticipation, dreams of what glories the next day would bring. 
    
I often thought my favorite day of the year was Christmas day, but I think it was actually Christmas Eve. Sure Christmas Day was the day we opened the presents, ate the dinner, did all of the Christmas things. But on Christmas Eve we waited. There was so much beauty in that, so much that sometimes I didn’t want Christmas Eve to end, I just wanted to wonder and live in wonder. 
    
​I think it’s a bit like waiting for the second coming of Jesus, we get very focused on when it will actually happen, when the pains will be cured, that we forget there is joy in waiting for him too. Yes, the greatest joy will come when we get to meet our savior face to face, but there is joy and beauty in the anticipation too. 

“The winter sunshine crept in to touch the bright heads and serious faces with a Christmas greeting.”Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

    
As much joy as there is on Christmas Eve, Christmas morning truly is something special. There are presents to open and presents to give, there is food to eat and the eternal worry of whether or not there is snow.
    
I don’t just love Christmas morning, I love all winter mornings. I often surprise people by telling them I like how it gets dark early, because then, it gets light later, meaning I don’t have to wake up at five to see the sunrise, I can roll over in my bed at seven and be greeted with orange and purple skies. 
    
On Christmas morning I love to play Santa Claus, scurrying around making sure all of my gifts are in place before everyone is up. 
    
I love to read the Christmas story to myself then, eagerly text everyone in my contacts Merry Christmas. People often respond with something like “Merry Christmas, why are you up so early?” My answer - “it’s Christmas.” 
    
We get this idea I believe, that as we get older we are too old to find joy in Christmas morning, that there is no reason to rush to turn on the tree lights, bake cinnamon rolls and open stockings. My question is, why shouldn’t we? Why shouldn’t we let ourselves be excited by the dawn of Christmas? Why shouldn’t we watch the sunrise and drink hot chocolate before anyone else is up? I think we should let ourselves get excited by the fact that it’s Christmas again.
    
Many people talk about having childlike wonder on Christmas, but we stomp that out when we don’t allow ourselves to get excited by Christmas. 

​Yes, maybe it doesn’t mean that you just want to open gifts, but it should still mean wonder, even if that wonder is worship to the Savior of the world, even if that wonder is silent prayer. And wonder shouldn’t be kept to only Christmas, we should attack every day with awe and wonder of the wonderful gifts God gives to us.

“Isn’t it a lovely Christmas? I’m so glad it’s white. Any other kind of Christmas doesn’t seem real, does it? I don’t like green Christmases. They’re not  green - they’re just nasty faded browns and greys.”Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery

Living in New England I’ve grown up with stories of white Christmases, but, surprisingly, I only experienced my first white Christmas a few years ago. Yes, we tend to get a lot of snow, but late December is often too early still for snow. There is something magical about glittering snow reflecting Christmas lights, taking a drive in the snow, sipping cocoa and reading a favorite book by the fire while the snow comes down. 

There was one year, where it felt like we were getting a white Christmas, there was snow everywhere on Christmas Eve. But in the night, we were gifted a downpour of rain. So, after going to bed on Christmas Eve with snow on the ground, we woke up to a soggy wet, brown landscape the next morning. 

While I know that most of the world doesn’t experience snow on Christmas, it just wouldn’t be Christmas without at least the hope of a white Christmas.

White Christmases signify purity, the beauty of sins washed away. White Christmases remind me of the unblemished Passover lamb who was sent to free us all of our sins.

​I hope you get the chance to create your own magical Christmas memories this year, and I hope that in every tradition you find the story of Christ.
​

Belle Thomas

​Belle is the writer behind An Old Fashioned Girl. She is passionate about Jesus, good books, and living a beautiful life.