Countdown to Christmas 2025….Day 1

Welcome to the Countdown to Christmas 2025. 

If you are new here, we like to do a 25 Day Countdown each year with some kind of focus. 

Okay, I like to do a 25 Day Countdown and some people hang around to see if I can pull it off. 

First I want to tell you how the Countdown was birthed. 

Many years ago, when we still had our own tribe under our roofs, my cousin’s wife Betty and I got through one particularly hectic season by sending each other hilarious emails regarding the chaos that was our reality. 

Unlike those prefect Christmas cards and now the social media posts that make it seem like everyone has it together, our correspondence revealed the truth of life on the hoof as we chased kids, carpooled and tried to pull off all the Christmas dreams we had in our hearts. 

Since we are both writers, the stories were heavily embellished and it was a fun part of my day to receive her update and concoct one to return. We laughed our way through and it was a treasure. 

My original countdowns on the blog started in 2018. 

I looked back over a few tonight and I think it was mostly along the theme of just sharing updates as I moved through the preparations and celebrations of the season. 

I have had other focus themes that I tried. 

One year was ornaments on our tree and why they are special. Another year or two, I attempted a more spiritual/devotional approach. 

Whatever the Countdown has looked like since 2018, it was the result of me walking and praying and asking God for His direction throughout the month of November. 

So this year He has given me this idea. 

I am calling it The Good, the Bad and the Ugly…a collection of memories from the holidays past and present. I have been voice texting memories into a list on my phone as they rise up. 

But if you know anything about the Journey…sometimes I will just have to share what landed in my lap the day before. 

One night as I was falling asleep thinking about the name that had come to me for the series, this came to me and I am going to start our first day of the Countdown with the words that bubbled up in my heart.

 I crawled out of bed and wrote them on a piece of scrap paper that has been sitting by my reading chair for a couple of weeks. 

So without further ado….since I have run on long enough….

Countdown to Christmas 2025: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

This Countdown is for the ones who feel they missed the mark. 

It’s for the ones with big ideas that didn’t pan out. 

It’s for everyone who dreamed of a perfect Christmas but faced the reality of life on planet Earth. 

This is for the one who still get tears in the eye pulling out the trim from the tubs, even though it took a fair amount of coffee and pep talks to start the process..

It’s for the ones who eek meaning out of every photo and ornament, who love everyone else’s decorations but secretly enjoy theirs the most. 

This is for the ones who would love to be delivering trays of homemade cookies, but will settle for tossing a few Ghirardelli chocolates in a gift bag with a hostess towel and search for a cute tag and ribbon in the stash to make it look extra special. 

This is for the ones who are fueled on caffeine and the hope that the  people they love will experience at least some of the joy and magic of this season that has been a favorite since her earliest memories. 

This is for you. 

Welcome to the Countdown to Christmas 2025. 

Let’s go!