On Christmas Day...

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.
~~~~~Dr. Seuss


Reminiscing about Christmas Day's past. The music we listened to, the stories we lived and relived over and over each Christmas. The laughter, the tears, the love you could feel.
It wasn't Christmas unless Momma pulled out the lp from within Elvis's Christmas Special record cover. We'd all sing along to his "I'll have a Blue Christmas without you". Each of us trying to outdo the other with prolonging that 'bl bl bl bl blue' till we collapsed in hysterical laughter. Music was such a big part of our lives.
All performed by the singers that Momma and Daddy listened to, and we endured while we were children. Yet Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jim Reeves, and yes, even Wayne Newton are now what I consider the classic sounds of Christmas. Can't forget to mention all the hymns we'd sing. O Little Town of Bethlehem, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, and oh, so many others.

Today, I was able to enjoy some of those same songs with my own daughter. She invited me to attend her church's Christmas Show... 'The Awaited'. Beautifully done, and by an all volunteer cast. Before the show, we had our photograph taken by one of several photographers beside a decorated Christmas tree. We were able to grab a cup of coffee from one of the kiosk that were staffed by volunteers from the church members before we took our seats. Afterwards, we stopped by the booth to pick up our free music CD with all the music from the show.
There was a classic hymn that they had changed the tempo and tone that had me clapping and tapping my foot. She shared the link to the YouTube video, so I'm sharing it with you. In fact, there were several other videos of the show on YouTube. Well worth the time to listen and watch all.





I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, may this day find you surrounded by family and friends alike.

For all those who are deployed to lands far away, We're praying that you all will feel the love sent across the miles and know just how much we miss you here at home.



And so it goes......