Friday, December 4, 2009

"I'll Be Home For Christmas"

"I really can't stay, baby, it's cooold outside." It's 32 degrees outside to be exact. My tree is shining bright. I have some of my gifts wrapped under it and the other half waiting for a box their size. The warm glow at night when the lights are on is the same way I feel inside. It's the best time of year. Everyone is nicer. Everything is prettier. I check my mailbox everyday for new cards and letters from people back home. I have to say I've done a fairly great job at making myself feel at home here in Nashville. Driving home Sunday, I felt like I have two homes. Going there, or here, is fine with me because I'm going home both ways. The roads are lined with wreaths and trees for sale. The Radio City Rockettes are showing at the Opry. Red and green are everywhere. Everyone is trying to outdo the other in the front yard. Blow-up Santas, merry-go-rounds, and nativity scenes create an atmosphere for the holiday. It's the best holiday. It's my favorite time of year.

What Christmas means to a 24 year old:
  • Music- There are some Christmas tunes that make me well up out of nowhere. I think maybe it's because I miss the ones I've lost. This will be our first Christmas without my Uncle Mitch and the second without my sweet granddad. I guess it's the getting older and realizing how precious time is. It seems like we lose so many great people in our lives and you just want to get the year over with and start again. My granddad always sang Christmas carols and had the deepest voice, sounding like Bing Crosby. Maybe that's where the emotion comes from. It's also my first Christmas away from home. It's hard to think that my sister and mom are at home shopping, making cookies, and decorating without me? Can't be.. I'm the ringleader of these events. But, life goes on and so does the baking. Things have to get done whether I'm at home or not. This is why I have decided that getting older, busier, and broker is really cramping my style. The good news is Nashville pretty much shuts down during this time for a 'winter session' so I will get to go home for a while. And all the way home I will jam out to Christmas CD's. Here are some of my faves:
Sugarland- Gold and Green (the entire CD)
Martina McBride- White Christmas (the entire CD)
Faith Hill- O Holy Night
Bing Crosby- I'll Be Home For Christmas
SheDaisy- Deck The Halls
Trisha Yearwood- It Wasn't His Child
Josh Groban- The First Noel
  • Loving People More- Not more, just amplified. This might sound silly, but during December I just want to hug everybody. I want everyone's plans to work out and things to go their way. I love the Wendy's worker at the window and the homeless man on the street. (which by the way is not there anymore.) I miss people, too. I went Christmas looking the other day bc I really didn't need to spend my money buying and they had all the Christmas stops pulled out. The decor, the music, the lights, the people. I was sad. I missed my Gran and how we make any excuse to drive to another town to shop for gifts. I miss my brother. I miss Edi-Ann. I feel like she grows a foot every time I see her again. Last time I was home I told her I was going to put books on her head to keep her from growing. She said, "But when I'm big, you can still hold me." :) I miss my dad. He's the funniest, funnest, most awesome dad ever. I miss his jokes that he finds funnier than anyone. I miss sleeping in my sister's twin bed just to annoy her. I miss my Aunt Pam's chicken and dumplings. My whole family believes in me, THANK YOU GOD. That's why I miss them, cause they're so awesome. I know, it's a lot, but it makes you appreciate what you have. And I am so blessed.
  • Giving Back- Oh, how I love giving what I don't have. :) I'll tell ya, if one day I do have money, I will spend half on others. I love the looks on people's faces when you do something so unexpected, because, let's face it, selfless things don't happen too often. Try it. You don't have to be Oprah and buy everyone a car, it can be simple. I try to buy the person's food behind me in line sometimes. It may be cheap, but the feeling you get is something you can't buy.
  • Bonus Features- There are a few extras that come with the season and some that come with moving further North! Snow is one of them. I cannot wait to see a white city. Living in the Delta didn't furnish much precipitation in that manner but now, YES! My stepdad is currently snowed-in in Dallas and I want him to bring that weather with him. (I have a plan to get my family snowed-in here so they have to stay. evil laugh. Muhahahahahah.) And what about getting everyone to come HERE for New Year's Eve? Don't mind if I do. No more trying to find a place to go. I live there. A few other things I love to 'tis the season that don't need discussin' are Christmas cards with cute little faces on them, watching "A Christmas Story" 24 hours on Christmas Eve, fireplaces burning, sleeping with my sweet baby sister on Christmas Eve waiting on Santa to bring her 57 baby dolls, "The Night Before Christmas", and of course, apple cider. :)
On a closing note I would like to say that Christmas is ultimately all about Jesus, otherwise there wouldn't be one. There wouldn't be holiday hustle and bustle, no caroling, no gift giving, there would be no season to celebrate if there wasn't a celebration when Christ was born. And it was an Old Testament throwdown when this man was brought here. They SANG to HIM. They brought GIFTS to HIM, and so the tradition lives on. The problem is, I think our government has forgotten. They can take Christ out of Christmas and called it a holiday. And they can quit saying Merry Christmas and say Happy Holidays but you and I know that as hard as they try, Jesus is more powerful than them all, and He will never really go away. So, MERRY CHRISTMAS, AMERICA!!!

I hope everyone has an awesome Christmas season. Remember to give without taking, do without asking, and believe without knowing.

xoxo, Meagan Rae

Luke 2:13
And suddenly there was the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest."