25 Reasons to Love Christmas

I love Christmas.
It is by far my favorite holiday...and always has been. I knew at a young age that Christmas was all about Jesus and his birth...my parents never did the Santa thing with us. My grandparents tried to give us gifts from Santa...but we always knew they weren't from him...as we received them on Christmas Eve, not Christmas morning. I knew Christmas wasn't all about the presents...but more about spending time with family and reflecting on Jesus's birth.
I was so excited this year to decorate. Josh and I were not able to decorate much last year, as we moved into our new place on December 20th. His mom bought us a little tree and made ornaments for it with our niece. It was a wonderful gift for us last year. This year, we wanted a real tree...and a fairly big one at that. Thankfully, we were able to get one and decorate it with all of our ornaments. It's a mish mash of Hallmark ornaments (from the days when I worked there and received a discount) and ornaments Josh has received over the years from his mom and grandma (for each year he's been alive). It's a beautiful mix and I just love it.
One of my Facebook friends has been counting down her 25 reasons to love the holiday season since December 1st. I have so enjoyed seeing the things she's picked each day and decided to do something similar. Since I hate that people are losing sight of Christ in Christmas, I am going to blog about 25 reasons why I love Christmas. As today would be the fourth day, I will do four of them in this blog.

1. Christmas trees. Not only do I love the ornaments and lights they are adorned with, I love the meaning behind them. I found this definition (on this website ):
Evergreen- the second color of Christmas shows everlasting light and life. The needles point up to heaven.
I love that the tree has to do with light and life. It's a wonderful reminder to cherish life during this time and to remember the Light of the World, Jesus Christ.

2. Serving. We talked a lot in our college group on Thursday night about the Christmas party we are putting on at church to serve some families in our community. I love the opportunity that Christmas brings to provide gifts, dinner, and fun to families that may not have those blessings otherwise. I love seeing all the beautiful smiles on the little ones.

3. Christmas music. Oh yes. This part is definitely one of my favorites. I have been listening to a local radio station in my car since after Thanksgiving that has been playing nothing but Christmas music. It makes me so happy to turn on my car and hear Silver Bells or Mariah Carey belting out, Jesus, Born on this Day (and yes, they play this song on the radio). It seriously makes a stressful day much more enjoyable.

4. Christmas crafts. I went to a couple of different holiday boutiques this morning with my sister and a dear friend. I love seeing all of the beautiful things that people spend their time crafting for others to enjoy. I bought a Christmas knitted towel to go on my refrigerator. My Nanny used to make them and every time I see them, I get excited. I have one with Mickey and Minnie on it that was given to me as a wedding gift, as well as one with a coffee pattern and one with apples. This Christmas one is the perfect addition to my collection.

Stay tuned for more reasons to love Christmas.