Christmas Trappings

The Christmas season this year seems to be more reflective than other years.   Quieter.  We have made a ton of cookies;  We have done a few shopping trips to bigger cities.  The tree is up and decorated.  But unlike other years, There has been no chaotic hustle and bustle that usually comes with the holiday season.   Yesterday, I gathered my tape, rounded up a pair of scissors (I can never find them when I want them),  gathered the wrapping paper and set out to wrap the gifts that I had bought.  As my daughter and I sat in the middle of the bedroom floor and started wrapping gifts, I ran into a problem, there was not enough wrapping paper.  Not wanting to waste wrapping paper, I decided to use a piece from another roll to cover the rest of the present.  My daughter looked at it and said,  "Aww now it's not pretty."  It wasn't.  She started wrapping another present, and would you believe it?  She had the same problem.  She ran out of wrapping paper about half way through wrapping the gift.  So again we patched together wrapping paper to wrap the gift.  We wrapped a couple more gifts and again ran out of wrapping paper before we could finish the gift.  By now both of us were laughing and giggling, seeing the humor in the situation.  My daughter, in a very dry tone of voice, said, "I guess this is just a leftover Christmas."  and we laughed some more.  We both knew that beautifully wrapped presents would not make Christmas any more meaningful.  I remember Christmases when we had much, and other Christmases when we had little.  Some of the best Christmases were when we had very little because we chose to focus on what Christmas was really about.  It was about a the baby born in a manger,  The only one who would be my savior.  So whatever else happens, or doesn't happen at Christmas will be fine because Christmas is really about God come down from heaven to live with us, "God is with us."   Christmas often becomes what we want it to be.  If we look expect trees, lights, tinsel, ribbon, cookies or parties or anything else to make Christmas happy, we will always be disappointed; but if we look at THE baby in a manger and remember him, none of the rest of the trappings of Christmas will have a hold on us. 

Christmas Is All in the Heart

In a one bedroom apartment
On the humble side of town
There stands a little Christmas tree
It looks a lot like Charlie Brown's

And underneath there's one little gift for him
And one little gift for her

After six months on the new job
They're still barely getting by
So in the way of decorations
There's nothing there to catch your eye

But both of them would be the first to say
We're together, we're gonna have the merriest Christmas anyway

'Cause Christmas is all in the heart
That's where the feeling starts
And like a fire inside, it touches every part
Christmas is all in the heart

And even if no white snow falls
Well, that's all right because
The joy can still be found, wherever you are
Christmas is all, all in the heart

Two little blond haired boys with big dreams
Tried to sleep but sleep wouldn't come
And we'd be tearing into presents
Long before the break of dawn

With mom and dad and cameras making sure
We'd never forget that day, no, no, no

Now I'm the one who's taking pictures
In the middle of the night
Of my own little dreamers
That just can't wait until daylight

And in my sleepy eyes the spark still glows
Well, I guess there's just some things a kid never outgrows

'Cause Christmas is all in the heart
That's where the feeling starts
And like a fire inside, it touches every part
Christmas is all in the heart

And even if no white snow falls
Well, that's all right because
The joy can still be found, wherever you are
Christmas is all, all in the heart

No, it's not in the snow that may or may not fall
And it's not in the gifts around the tree
It's in the love Heaven gave, that night our Savior came
And that same love can still be found wherever you are

'Cause Christmas is all in the heart
And the joy can still be found, wherever you are
'Cause Christmas is all, all in the heart
It's all in the heart