On the fifth day of Christmas

On the fifth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me
Five sparkling Ipods
Four kissing frogs
Three chocolate bars
Two sparkling gems
And a flamingo in a tutu

Okay, I am the most technically challenged person on this blog site. I can't ever remember my past words and I usually misplace my blog notes. I'm scatterbrained--it's true. But the funny thing is that when it comes to writing, I can stay focused on the story for days on end and forget everything else around me. So which day of Christmas do I get? I-pods. Fear the little things. Don't have one. Don't know how to use one or download one but if I had five---well now that's different. I'd want them to be in different colors--like five different presents underneath the tree. I'd want them to be hot pink and bright purple and lime green and pearl white and shining red, and all with lots of bling on them. I love presents, I'm a girly-girl, and I love my bling.

But that's what Christmas is all about, right? Presents and shining bows and bright lights and songs running through our heads? Christmas is the advent season. And it is a true adventure--the anticipation of celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ always makes me stop and pause for just a few minutes, usually on Christmas Eve, with that song "Do you see what I see?" traveling through my mind the old-fashioned way. I hum it as I look out at the stars. I love Christmas music so I guess I really should ask Santa for an I-pod. But knowing me, I'd trip over the little cord and break a leg just trying to get the thing connected to my ear. The other night, our neighbor who is in middle school came over to ask for our help with a science project. She wanted my husband and me to listen to music for thirty minutes. She took our blood pressure before we listened and then after, to see if the annoying music she'd picked raised our blood pressure. I thought this would be fun and ... I'd actually get to sit still for thirty minutes. The only trouble I had was with the little ear things. I couldn't get them to stay in because I am not I-pod smart. She had to show me how to make them hang off my earlobe. Now if that had been a set of pearls--- Anyway, I have high blood pressure and take medication for it but when the songs finished my pressure had gone down. And these were not my usual choice in music, trust me.

That little lesson can be applied to the holidays. We rush and run around and search for all those shining baubles and perfect gifts and really, the real treasure is being able to just sit still long enough to feel the presence of peace and to know that the Lord is watching over us. It's hard to just "be still and know that He is God" but we really should do that.

I remember one Christmas years ago when I had to have a minor surgery done to make sure all my female parts were working correctly. I was put to sleep but when I woke up, I felt ill because of the medicine. My husband came to pick me up from the day surgery and since it was close to Christmas and I guess because he was a bit worried about me, he'd bought me a gift. It was an Aaron Neville Christmas CD. Now I'm a Louisiana girl and I love Aaron Neville. My husband loaded me into the Yukon and presented me with this sweet gift. The first song I heard was "Please Come Home for Christmas." I remember tears streaming down my face and a bit of nausea searing my stomach, but I will always remember that sweet gift.

This is the gift the Lord gives us--a gift of thoughtfulness and love, an unexpected gift that we didn't even ask for. It's ours for the taking. And maybe we do need a little speaker in our ears to hear of this precious gift. Do you see what I see? I hope so. Do you hear what I hear? I'm thinking you do. Take the time to listen, just listen, to the quiet amongst this busy season.
And if Santa brings you an I-pod, please post here on how the things really work. I'd love to know. Merry Christmas and I hope you always hear a song of joy each time you wish upon a star.