The After Christmas Blues
Do you experience it, too? The after Christmas blues?
You know what I’m talking about.
There is so much hype leading up to Christmas Day. This year the stores started bringing out Christmas decorations in October! People joked on Facebook that it was Hallothanksmas because Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas items were filling the store at around the same time! There was no time to focus on just one occasion. They just went straight into the big holidays when we were buying costumes and candy for the big night of Trick-or-Treating!
After counting the loot with bags full of candy on Halloween, there was a brief mention of Thanksgiving, but the main focus was Christmas … shelves were lined with Christmas ornaments, wreaths, trees, etc.
Then we started hearing Christmas carols on the radio, and it just seemed to lift our spirits.
Things are better when everyone is getting in the Christmas spirit. People are nicer! They are more patient and kind during the holiday season.
Then, suddenly, Christmas comes and goes … and we’re left with the after Christmas blues.
Like now.
I sit here, after getting my house back in order, admiring the nice tiny nooks and crannies of my house where just yesterday sat lots of Christmas decorations, our tree with the shiny white lights and ornaments that meant something to us all and signified memories in our lives with our children. There were mangers scenes in another corner as my daughter couldn’t just have one, she had to have two this year. And then, who could forget our snowman! I absolutely adore snowmen, and we had a lit one indoors just because I love them so much.
Now … all is quiet … and clean … spic-n-span …
And the after Christmas blues set in.
Why?
Because the special-ness of the season has come to a close.
People will be returning to work on Monday, December 29th, and will lose the loving kindness they displayed leading up to Christmas day.
Now, I realize that not everyone will fall into this category, but the vast majority will. And that saddens me.
I don’t want to lose the special-ness of Christmas. I don’t want it to go away. I want it to last longer …
And it can.
Will you carry the way you felt leading up to Christmas with you long after the season has come to an end?
More people need this feeling all through the year, not just for a few short weeks or a month even.
Christmas needs to last … and it can, if we carry it in our hearts all year through.
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What Does Christmas Mean To You?
Today I’d like to share a few thoughts from my children on this holiday season.
First, from my 17 year old daughter:
Growing up, I always knew that Christmas was about Jesus and celebrating His birthday. As I’ve gotten older, I have noticed that not a lot of people acknowledge what Christmas is truly all about. Instead, they focus more on Santa Clause.
Also, I have seen a lot of people shorten Christmas to “X-mas,” which disturbs me because it is like taking Christ completely out of Christmas. My family and I will continue to say Merry Christmas and to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.
When I asked my 10 year old daughter, “What does Christmas mean to you?” she responded with, “Love, peace, and joy.”
While Christmas has now come and gone, we trust that our readers have kept Christ in Christmas and that your holiday was filled with love, peace, and joy straight from our Lord and Savior who was once a little baby laying in a manger … baby Jesus!
Merry Christmas
Today we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
It isn’t about the presents under the tree. It is about the greatest gift that we could ever receive, and that is the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. He came as a tiny baby to save the world. He took on a human form to walk the face of the earth, and He was tempted just as you and I are today. Yet, He did not give into the sins of the world. He became angry just as you and I do, yet He did not sin in His anger.
He showed us what it was like to live, to love, to give … and He gave all … He died for you and I.
Please take time today to wish Jesus a Happy Birthday. Please make time for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ so that you will have eternal life in Heaven with Jesus and all of the loved ones that have gone on before you, if you only believe in Him.
Merry Christmas from all of us at Light Love Hope.
