An Award: Five Things I Love About Christmas!

One of the great pleasures of blogging has been meeting some of the nicest people who, due to distance, I wouldn’t have the opportunity of meeting otherwise. Blogging brings a big world closer. And one of the nicest bloggers I’ve met is Beth at Aunties with Advice. Beth is an encourager and has made me feel both welcomed and loved, and I appreciate her presenting me with the Christmas Spirit Award. So thank you, Sweet Beth! :-) Here is a link to Beth's blog: http://auntieswithadvice.blogspot.com/2008/12/decorating-tree-with-little-ones-and.html
The rules are as follows:

~You must be a true Christmas lover to receive this award
~The person you give the award to must be in love with Christmas
~You must link back to the person who gave you the award
~You must list 5 things that you love about Christmas
~Pass the award along to as many as you like, you must pass it on to at least one person to keep the Christmas cheer going around.

Since I think everyone on this blog (or almost everyone) knows The Muse and since those who know her love her and since she has dedicated post after post to Christmas and since she muses and ryhmes and could probably compose a "Five Things I Love" song and since she has the rest of this year and next to do it (Muse, I know you're gone until after Christmas!), I bestow on her the Christmas Spirit Award. See what happens when you take a vacation! ;-)

And since in addition to The Muse, I love and adore all the rest of you bloggers, I bestow it upon you, too, so congratulations to all of you who celebrate Christmas! Please take this challenge and spread the love around! It doesn't have to end on Christmas Day. The Spirit of Christmas should be alive and well in our hearts all year long. So I'll start now with my five things, and you start thinking! :-)

Five Things I Love About Christmas…

1) I love the wonder of Christmas, the fact that the world is full of the season's sparkle...



And that children, both young...



And old...



Believe that anything is possible when love prevails…



2) I love the fact that Christmas gives us time to pause and reflect, even among the hustle-bustle...



And to search deep within ourselves to see what gift we might give to someone else on behalf of the Christ Child’s birthday…



Painting: "The Christmas Tree" by J. Alden Weir from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

3) I love Christmas songs...


And especially the fact that when I sing the words to “O Come All Ye Faithful”...



And get to the verse, “Sing all ye citizens of Heaven above,” that my parents’ and grandparents’ voices and those of other loved ones who have gone on ahead are joined at that very moment with mine in a love song to the Lord… and that I can know with all certainty that because of what He did for us, I will one day sing in that citizens’ choir, joyously standing right next to the ones I love and miss so much…

4) I love the fact that our Christmas tree is covered in ornaments from stem to stern...



And that every time we look at it we smile, thinking of the special memories the ornaments evoke…



And I love that children delight in the tree and its “shiny objects” as much as we do, proving once and for all that Mr. Magpie and I are still young at heart…



5) I love the fact that each Christmas I am reminded of how blessed we are that God has placed some wonderful people (both family and friends) into our lives, people who are the true gifts of Christmas… I love the fact that He has put it into my heart and my husband’s that family extends much further than the bonds of shared blood, that family is defined only by how wide and how open our hearts are to accepting other people who are as varied as the ornaments on our tree with all of their foibles and follies, their wit and wisdom, their tears and smiles… which is the true definition of the Christmas circle of love, better known as family.


So to that circle of love, our blogger family, I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas! Don't forget to "Let your heart be light!" :-)

XO,

Mrs. Magpie (Sheila)