The Christmas Spirit

O Come O Come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel...

I've been a Christian since I was eight. Yet, why is this the first Christmas that I feel convicted to dwell on His birth (and death) not on the gifts under the tree? I decided to sit down with my guitar tonight and play some Christmas songs and I was singing "O Come O Come Emmanuel" and I just felt this wave of awe--Jesus Christ came down to earth, the One True God came in flesh to us. He went through what we go through every day--and emerged as sinless. Jesus came as a dependent child--an infant. He felt hunger and pain. He needed his earthly parents just as we do ours. Did Jesus know when he was 2 or 3 that one day He would die on a cross? I guess as an omniopotent God that he did. And all of that...He did it for me. And you, of course, reader. He knew before we did all of the things we would do wrong, He took it all on to his shoulders for me and for you. He loves you despite all of things that you've done. He'll keep loving you, even when you turn your back on Him. He loves me, even though I so often forget to celebrate His birth the way I should.

Slap me on the wrist, I have not posted for 6 days...

Time flies.

I don't remember when Christmas changed from being about getting to being about giving for me. I used to be so excited to open up those packages, and for the past couple years, I have been more excited to watch my family open their gifts from me. I guess it's part of getting older, and maturing. My mom wouldn't say that my Christmas attitude has matured--she still makes fun of me, because I still can't sleep past 6 a.m. on Christmas (although, every year, I figure I'll oversleep. I'm one of those people who love sleep and can basically sleep anytime.). I loved those moments when I was younger--jumping into my sister's bed at 3 a.m. so I wouldn't have to amuse myself--she would do it for me. Playing "bed olympics" in Grandma's house with my sister--thinking about it now, I think that if she ever found out we were jumping off of the headboard doing somersaults, she'd kill us. Then there was that one year I woke my sister up at 1 a.m. to tell her Hanson was on the radio. Honestly, was I really 13?? Haha. Most of my Christmas memories are made up of these wonderful moments with my sister. I can't imagine having grown up as an only child and having no one to share all of this with. My heart aches for those whose Christmases don't hold such beautiful memories--I wish this season could be as fun and flooded with memories for everyone as it is for me.

Four Things

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Childcare worker
2. Teacher of 1 1/2 yr olds
3. Customer Service in Trucking
4. Data Entry

Four Movies seen more than once
1. Harry Potters 1-4
2. The Chronicles of Narnia
3. How to Marry a Millionaire
4. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Four places I've lived:
1. Bristol/Elkhart IN
2. Richmond, VA
3. Fredericksburg, VA
4. Philly PA

Four T.V. Shows I watch:
1. Survivor
2. Heroes
3. Law and Order SVU
4. All CSIs

Four things I like to do:
1. Watch movies
2. Talk to friends online/via text/on the phone
3. Sing loudly in the car
4. Teach kindergarten kids on Sundays

Four places I have been to: (maybe one day my list will be as cool as my sister's)
1. Grand Bahama Island
2. Puerto Rico
3. San Diego, CA
4. Yellowstone Nat'l Park

Four people who email me regularly:
1. Amazon.com
2. Facebook alerts
3. Target
4. Brokers at work

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Pasta
2. Potatoes
3. Eggs
4. Christmas Tree Cakes by Little Debbie

Four places I'd rather be right now:
1. Jos, Nigeria
2. West Chester, NY
3. Nashville, TN
4. Northern VA

Four things I'm looking forward to doing this year. Since this year is technically almost over, I'm including next year:
1. Going back to school
2. Perhaps having nieces/nephews
3. Making more friends here
4. Maybe God dropping Mr. Right into my life

Since I always wanted to copy everything my sister does...

I guess that starting a blog isn't a bad thing. Throwing my thoughts out there into cyber space can't be so bad, right? I've been baking cookies like crazy, preparing for Christmas. I don't know why, but baking and Christmas kind of go together for me. When I was younger, every year 2 weeks or so before Christmas, my whole family would bake sugar cookies and then decorate them together. We would put my mom's Donnie Osmond Christmas CD on, and maybe even John Denver and the Muppets, and we would all frost, making intricate creations. Ever since my sister got married, the baking sugar cookies and decorating them tradition has faded away. I hate that we've lost it, because it sort of forced us all to sit down and actually spend quality time together, but it wouldn't be the same without my sister. I fondly remember those moments, creating little icing-covered sweets--getting praised for my artistic ability with frosting. One year I even did a Mike Wazowski. Instead of those sugar cookies, I now make it my Christmas mission to make fun cookies. This year so far, I made molasses cookies, chocolate chip cookies, brownie cookies with peanut butter chips, and Mexican wedding cookies. It makes me not miss my sister as much--I know she loves to cook, and it makes me feel close to her. Maybe one day, I'll restart the sugar cookies tradition with my nieces and nephews, or even my own kids. Until then, I will keep picking more intricate cookies and new things each year.