Christmas music

I am sitting here listening to Christmas music and realizing that for the first time in awhile, I feel happy! I have been dwelling on what I have left behind instead of just enjoying where I am right now. Well, right this very minute, I am listening to Christmas music and I love it! I know that a lot of people think it's way too early, that it shouldn't start until after Thanksgiving. I know what they are saying, that Thanksgiving just kind of gets glossed over - we go right from Halloween to Christmas. Maybe that's true. Thanksgiving kind of gets shoved right in with Christmas. But I love Thanksgiving and it is my favorite holiday of the year. I love the Thanksgiving meal and I like watching part of the parades. It really didn't bother me last year that we were in Texas and didn't get to be a part of a big gathering. I still loved it. And I love it whether there's Christmas music playing or not. To me, the music doesn't take away. It just extends the "feeling" of Thanksgiving and Christmas longer. The music is really my favorite part of the Christmas season, along with Christmas movies. Maybe because they remind me of what Christmas is really meant to be and not what it is. I think we get caught up in the things that aren't important and forget what is. But every year, the music brings out the excitement of the child in me - an excitement and hope for what might be this year. And I don't know about you, but if I could have that feeling all year long - wow, what a year it'd be! So play on, Christmas music. Remind me of the baby in the manger, the drummer boy who had nothing for a gift but his talents, and the star in the sky leading the way. And remind me how thankful I am for those things, and so much more.