11.26.07
christmas and a lot of things to be thankful for
It’s a month to go before Christmas. It’s also many, many, many months ago since my last entry. I won’t talk about my ‘adventures’ in the months I’ve been stagnant. Let me start with now instead.
I’ve been listening to Josh Groban’s Christmas album since I bought it, well, yesterday after much agonizing over the album’s price. I wanted to listen to good, old Christmas songs. Unfortunately, I don’t hear much Christmas carols in the local radios these days (more of the same stuff we hear everyday, which makes me wonder how time may be has dulled the public’s patronage of Christmas songs). Except for the small Christmas tree in my apartment’s living room, the parols adorning the lobby of our building and the cold, stormy air, my world seems to be lacking some Christmas cheer. So I bought the album and I’ve been listening to it ever since. And I plan to continue listening to it even if my dad chides me for buying an operatic Christmas album.
A line from one of his songs is worth reflecting on. It says, There’s so much to be thankful for.
Indeed, there’s so much to be thankful for. There may be a lot of sorrows in our world, a lot of grief, and a lot of differences. But somehow as Christmas nears, we find a little piece of hope, a small part of happiness that makes us say, yes, despite all these, there’s still so much to be thankful for.
I have so much to be thankful for. This is one of my most special, most treasured Christmases in all time. And it’s not just because I finally found a wonderful Christmas album that gives a perfectly good rendition of The Christmas Song.
I have always known that neither my money nor my career could completely satisfy me. At the end of the day, at the end of the year, at the end of every semester I still long for home. I want to sleep in my bed, eat meals with my family, joke around with my siblings and parents. I love Christmas and I love spending it with my family. I want to join them as they decorate our house for the season. I grew up with the usual Christmas tradition and I want to continue sharing those traditions with my family. While my career and my money have made our Christmas celebrations extra different the past four years (there are more gifts now to open and more food to eat with my contribution), it’s still my family that makes my celebration special. Home is warmth; home is hot chocolate drinks and Christmas lights on the Christmas tree. Home is mama and papa and all five kids, rowdy and loud.
And now, my Christmas is made more special by You. I guess I got my most treasured Christmas gift in advance. This is our second Christmas together but this year is the first in what I hope to be a long, long, long, long time of Christmas celebrations with you. Hopefully we can start our own Christmas traditions. When you saw me a couple of years ago, I was just a fantasy. And to me, you were just a face. Who would have thought that He would bring the two of us together last Christmas? Thank you for taking that first step. I’ll take the next. And we’ll take the next ones together. Thank you for being my best Christmas gift.
Indeed, I have so much to be thankful for. We have so much to be thankful for.
