Twixt Thanksgiving and Christmas… <3
Russ and I were driving home from up north the other night and noticed Christmas lights on farm houses across the fields and as we pulled into our own neighborhood. He asked, me in a thoughtful way, why people put their Christmas trim up in early November.
We are old school. We come from the line that puts Christmas up after Thanksgiving.
Our parents were even older school. My mom was raised in a financially challenged home in a hard few decades that saw two World Wars, the Great Depression and the Great Flood of 1937 that interrupted her senior year at Louisville Girls High and caused her to be of the Class of 1937 and a Half.
She loved to tell me about how there was no Christmas tree in their house until Christmas morning. A scraggly tree with some candles lit and a stocking with a handful of candy and a treasured fresh orange in the toe was what they had. And they loved it. It was perfect and enough and she cherished the memories.
And that’s why Russ’s question has been bouncing around in my head for a few days. At the time I told him that I think it’s because people like the joy and the lights, the way folks are kinder and the world is prettier for the season.
With some exceptions, by experience, Christmas decorations remind most of us of the better parts or our childhood, early parenting years, family and friends. The charm of a house outlined in white or colored lights as you drive through the dark cheers a weary heart. The efforts of people to add whimsy through displays and trim within the home, the way they hang wreaths and colorful banners along the main streets of towns, the creative ways snowmen, sleds, Santas, holly and evergreens are added here and there all make us smile.
Another advantage to the early decorations that has started to sway me toward beginning the process earlier is the fact that those who get a few weeks’ jump can just enjoy the whole month of December. Waiting until after Thanksgiving means cramming in an overhaul of your house while also attending every program and sports event known to man.
And yes, Jesus is the reason for the season. Celebrating the birth of our Savior is the main point of it all.
But if you have traveled the Journey with me for any length of time, you know that I see how this season we call “the Holiday’s” is also rich in families and friends figuring out what traditions will be carried on, what new ones will be added and how to look back and embrace the treasure of Christmas past.
So as I stand here tapping this out in a store that has taken lights and joy to a new level for me for the ten years I have worked here, I say…bring it on.
Bring on the lights and little houses set up in a village. Bring on the Frasier Fir candles and the hot cocoa in colorful mugs. Bring on the stories and the wreaths, the ornaments and the parties. Bring on the generous hearts opened a little wider and the hospitality a lot more intentional. Bring on the programs and the music, the Santa hats on the basketball coaches. Bring it all on.
Let our hearts be glad as we encourage one another and…journey onward to Christmas 2024