Holidays in Hand - Day 6

Write about a holiday symbol that is significant to you.



Something about the bright colors of a sprig of holly make everything feel festive and wintry. We had a holly bush at the corner of our house when we lived in Illinois and I remember one Thanksgiving we spent there: snow on the ground, cold, turkey cooking in the oven and I was looking out the front window. There was a bright green leaf of holly and a couple of berries sticking out from the pristine white snow and I knew that Christmas was coming.

It seems that the origin of holly as part of the Christmas tradition comes from the re-purposing of Celtic, Druid and pagan traditions during the winter solstice when Christianity made its way to Europe. Prickly holly became a symbol of the crown of thorns Jesus would wear during His crucifixion and the berries look like drops of His precious blood. What a powerful remembrance of the true reason for the Christmas holiday.

Holidays in Hand | Day 5

Write about a specific holiday song that is special to you.

Only one? Trying to pick one favorite Christmas carol is like choosing between your children! But I guess if I have to write about just one song....

Christmas of 1999 I was pregnant with Danae. I was taking piano lessons at the time and there was an arrangement of 'Away in the Manger' and 'Brahm's Lullaby' that just made me cry nearly every time I practiced it. (I'm sure the hormones had nothing to do with it.) We weren't going to tell the family about the baby until we surprised them at Christmas with framed ultrasound photos. I loved keeping this special little secret and when I played this lullaby I felt like I might understand what Mary had pondered in her heart about the birth of Jesus. I had joined the special society of motherhood and the song about the little baby in the manger took on a very precious meaning for me.

Holidays in Hand | Day 4

Talk about a sentimental piece of holiday decor.

We have a lot of handmade ornaments and I just love getting them out of the box and remembering where they came from: a handpainted ornament from my Grandpa Harris, a cross-stitched ornament I made as a teenager, paper and craft-stick ornaments from my childhood or my children. But one handmade piece stands out in my mind as completely sentimental.

When I was in second grade my dad was on a remote tour to South Korea. Mom, my sister and I spent that year living my grandparents in Oregon. In school I made a little tree out of pink styrofoam egg cartons and silver garland. Grandma hung it right on her wall in the living room and I thought it was beautiful. After Christmas Mom wanted to toss it (like I now do with much of my children's 'artwork' rationalizing with the phrase 'We just can't keep everything!') but my little six-year-old heart was devastated. I'm not sure if Grandma was just trying to keep the peace or if she really wanted to save it, but she didn't let Mom throw it out. Year after year she pulled out that old eggshell Christmas tree and put it up as part of her decorations. I got it back when she passed away. It had been carefully wrapped in tissue paper with this written on masking tape on the back:



Just writing this makes me feel kind of guilty that when we were cleaning up to move, I also decided to get rid of it. But I couldn't throw it without taking a picture:



Obviously, this isn't really about an eggshell Christmas tree. My grandmother knew how to love--not just me, but everyone. Fortunate children have one person who loves them so unconditionally. But the really blessed ones--like I am--are surrounded by them.

Holidays in Hand | Day 3

What does the word 'joy' mean to you? Does it play a part in your holidays?

'Joy' is defined by as 'keen sense of pleasure or delight'. I think I add a qualifier to that in my personal definition which states that joy is 'a keen sense of pleasure or delight no matter what my circumstances'. I want to be one who lives life joyfully because the alternative is too terrifying to contemplate.

Joy shows up completely expected at the holidays. We share our laughter more readily, ourselves more easily and more completely with friends, family and strangers at the holidays than any other time of the year. But what a wonderful world we would create by living that joy, delight and pleasure all year long. It could quite possibly help usher in that world peace thing that we keep talking about. Who knows?

Holidays in Hand | Day 2

Read the article Welcome Home...For the Holidays! and share your thoughts.

I have always wanted to have a home that makes people feel comfortable. I will never have a Martha Stewart-esque home and I don't feel bad about one little bit. My home will never look like a museum piece and I wouldn't have it any other way. I learned from my Grandma Harris that homes are about the inhabitants and not about the objects within. It wasn't until I was older that it suddenly occurred to me that she had a living room with light green walls, dark green carpet, an orange couch and a purple recliner, because, frankly, it didn't matter. I always felt at home there and although we didn't spend as many holidays there as we would have liked, the atmosphere in that house every day of the year was always one of warmth and family and gratitude and joy. And that is the essence of the holiday spirit, isn't it? Would that I could have that feeling in my house--and in my life--all year long!

Holidays in Hand | Day 1

Write your thoughts about your family's holiday values.

I love the season of giving. I love the season of family, togetherness, and working toward peace on earth. I love the season of joy and herald angels. But most of all, I want to experience a season of holiness; expectation; incarnation. The awareness that the baby in the manger is God come down to earth. He chose, simply out of love for us, to squeeze His Infinity into a helpless human body and become one of us. I want to be reminded, that although Christmas is about serenity and adoration, it leads irrevocably to Easter where that serenity turns to sacrifice and the adoration becomes the glory of the Resurrection.

I pray this year that my family will spend time in worship of the one who gave the perfect gift, which allows our own gifts of love to have any meaning. What I hope to remember this holiday season is perfectly stated in a small portion of one of my favorite "new classic" Christmas songs: Welcome To Our World by Chris Rice

So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy

Perfect Son of God
Perfect Son of God
Welcome to our world

November Round-Up

Okay, so tomorrow is the beginning of the end--of the year, anyway! I'm actually kind of hoping that December will be a little less crazy than November was. I know I'm probably living in a dream world, but I want my Christmas holiday to feel more organized than usual. I've already wrapped some presents, scrapped my Christmas card and made my list of which Christmas movies I HAVE to watch :)

I took advantage of Jessica Sprague's Holidays In Hand class and plan to scrap and journal my way through December. Starting tomorrow I'm going to try to journal and/or scrap for 20 minutes about the holidays every day. We'll see how well that goes (if you notice my NaNoWriMo word count is gone because I didn't do so well with the novel..it will get done, just not in November!)

See y'all tomorrow!