Just a Girl With Glue

It's Almost Christmas

I'm one of those Christmas followers that believe that the beginning of Christmas starts on Christmas Day.... not Halloween. We don't put our tree up on Thanksgiving and put it to the curb on December 26th. We actually just put the tree up today and it will remain decorated and lit until after Jan. 6th, the Feast of the Three Kings. We have a Nativity Scene and the Christ child doesn't appear in the manger until Christmas morning. He sets outside the scene, on another table perhaps. Before Christmas, there is a time called Advent, a time of anticipation, a time for patience. You know those pretty calendars with little windows you open each day? It's not for Santa, it's for the arrival of the Christ Child.

Ah, Patience... you don't see a lot of that these days as you brace yourself against the crowds at the mall. I don't do malls. I don't have the patience or to deal with rude salespeople (albeit tired and underpaid salespeople) and even ruder shoppers. I escaped the madness and shopped the internet. What a wondrous shopping tool that is.

I look forward to this Christmas, not because the tree is up and lit, or because my shopping is done, but because my family will all be together. Isn't that what it's all about? About family and love and anticipation. It's almost Christmas and I'm ready.