The Best Way to Spread Christmas Cheer is Singing Loud for All to Hear

And if you can't hear me singing from your respective states that are not Nebraska, you can YouTube search some old Chorale videos and I'm sure you'll get the picture.

Well, Merry Christmas everyone! You're probably all thinking, "What kind of sad person has time or desire to blog on actual Christmas Day?" That kind of person is me, friends. But when you have 16 people in one smallish house and everyone's talking and there's not enough room for us to all spread out and nap after the big meal...it's nice to get away from it all for a few minutes or so.

So here I am, chatting to you fine people. I'll keep it short, as I want to resume my lounging and wine-drinking as soon as possible (the true reason for the season.)

What's so sparkle, sparkle (or sparlke, sparkle as the case may be) about Christmas? Besides the glitter that comes attached to every ornament, headband, shoe and decoration associated with Christmastime? Let's take a moment to remember the more important sparkly aspects of this time of year.

There's the sparkly spirit of Christmas. Sure, we all have reasons and moments that we don't feel our best around the holidays. It could be an overwhelming amount of things on our to do lists or just that "crowded lonely" feeling - you know the one, TOO many people, still feeling alone. But I think when it comes down to it, some of the best qualities of human nature are promoted and celebrated at Christmas. Peace, joy, generosity and love are *hopefully* in abundance. And I hope we all have enough sparkle, sparkle in us to keep that goodwill spinning through the world after all is said and done too.

If you don't get to see your family that often (which I don't anymore) there's the sparkly feeling of being back with loved ones that you can count on. I sang with the church choir this morning and from the balcony I could see my whole family taking up a pew and a half, and I just felt so blessed. I'm pretty tight with the fam, and remembering that sure makes my heart sparkle, sparkle. They're the star to my Christmas tree, if you will.

And of course, there's the truest and most lovely sparkle of all - the fact that Christmas is really about the celebration of Christ and his birth. A Savior who came to the world, gave up hanging out in heaven and became a person, just to save my life? Pretty sparkle, sparkle.

Merry Christmas, ya'll. Friends afar, I wish I could see you today, but know that I'm thinking of you all and missing you dearly. Hope you sparkle all day long.