Merry Christmas! Here’s my list of things I love about Christmas. You can use the comment facility below the article to share some of your favorite things if you like.

Michelle's Nativity (7)

  1. Reading the Christmas story alone, with my wife, or with my children. These words are without equal. (Luke 2, Matthew 1-2)
  2. Sharing the story, God’s Three Trees, by candlelight after we decorate our tree.
  3. Placing the figure of baby Jesus in the nativity set on Christmas Eve.
  4. Kissing Shawn under the mistletoe…or anywhere else.
  5. Singing Christmas carols and making up my own words if I don’t know the real ones.
  6. Watching familiar movies. Watching with my daughters adds bonus points. Watching with my granddaughter, Fern, in coming years will be heaven on earth. My list includes:
    Rudolph
    Charlie Brown Christmas
    The Troll Prince
    Miracle on 34th Street
    It’s a Wonderful Life
    White Christmas
    Christmas in Connecticut
    The Grinch (original cartoon version, of course)
  7. Finding hiding places for gifts where household members never think to look.
  8. Playing Santa Claus and surprising someone with the perfect gift.
  9. Munching munchies while working a puzzle or playing a board game.
  10. Enjoying Christmas cookies and other baked goods.
  11. Receiving a Christmas card with a hand-written note inside.
  12. Observing an act of kindness while shopping. Like the lady who tapped on my window and offered me her parking space right by the door of the mall several years ago. I’ve never forgotten her example and try hard to pay it forward.
  13. Assembling and testing gifts before Christmas morning.
  14. Enjoying the antics of children performing their special Christmas musicals.
  15. Eating Christmas ham left-overs as sandwiches, omelets, ham salad, and homemade pizza with ham chunks.
  16. Ebenezer the Scrooge-Boss sending everyone home at 10 a.m. on Christmas Eve with no homework.
  17. Being home for the holidays and waking up in my own bed.
  18. Hot, steamy, delicate, tasty homemade rolls for Christmas dinner.
  19. Enjoying outrageous Christmas light displays that I never had to install. Thanks for your hard work, people!
  20. Enlisting my precious daughters to wrap my presents for Shawn.
  21. Bundling up for a moonlight walk in the cold.
  22. Christmas mashed potatoes with ham gravy.
  23. Experiencing the joy in giving.
  24. Living close to my daughters so the family can gather around the table. We miss our relatives scattered far and wide, and we understand the blessing of living near one another is an anomaly in today’s world.
  25. Being thankful for what we have, and acknowledging God’s gracious hand in showering blessings on us.