The magic and wonder of Christmas

I still have my child-like wonder when it comes to Christmas, though these days with all the adult busyness, sometimes it gets lost in the shuffle. Here's one thing that helps me stay grounded in the joy of Christmas:

Starting on December 1st, I dig out my old Christmas song book and sing at least two songs to my kids at bed time, every night through December. I hand copied  forty Christmas songs in this notebook when I was fourteen years old...

And illustrated at least 20 of the pages (not claiming to be an artist... this was just my way of expressing my love of Christmas)

I was trying to think of how to express that feeling of Christmas magic here, and even though I'm a writer, sometimes words fail me, but music and art capture it.

Did you ever stick your head under your Christmas tree to try
to get as close as you could to the magic?

Snow and lights

You might have seen a short excerpt of this wonderful song as a commercial on TV, but it's worth listening to the whole thing: This Is My Wish, sung by Jordin Sparks.



An old one, but oh so beautiful:



And the very heart of Christmas:

Also, do you remember that scene in Anne of Green Gables when Matthew picks up Anne at the train station and they ride in their buggy to her new home? And she chatters his ear off, but suddenly she's struck dumb by the sight of the cherry trees in bloom along the Avenue? That also captures that wonder I feel sometimes.

She came out of her reverie with a deep sigh and looked at him with a dreamy gaze of a soul that had been wandering afar, star-led.

Many blessings to you all this holiday season.