Why Can't Every Day Feel Like Christmas?

Favorite things of this very moment (7:48 pm CST):

• My beautiful Autumn Berry nailpolish (it's a nice burgundy color)
• Christmas lights
• A happy, purring Mira
• Turtle cheesecake
• Christmas music (oh the joys of iTunes shuffle)
• Ice water
• This fantastic, warm, soft green turtleneck sweater (and I have never been a fan of turtlenecks, but this one totally wins)
• Christmas plotting

I was just rereading my "My Grown-Up Christmas List" post from back in Nov. 2007. Cracked me up. It definitely worth writing. There are a lot of things I could be wishing for this Christmas, but mostly I'm just wishing for some guidance, and the strength to stay were I need to.

I don't mean I need to stay in one place physically, but I do feel that I've become a bit of a wishy-washy person in the spiritual sense, and that's distressing. Christmas is full of magic, and I really hope that this magic stays with me. I plan to hold onto the mystery and magic of Jesus' birth as tight as I can. I intend to try and keep drawing closer to God over the course of the next year, and preferably, for the rest of my life. I need this. I need God in my life. I need that strength, the joy, and most of all, the hope.

This is what I love about Christmas. I love the hope that just radiates from everything. The joy that shines in the eyes of everyone around you, and the love that people just drop everything to share. As Elvis once sang, "why can't every day be like Christmas?" It's a valid question.

So here's my challenge to you: let's make this Christmas feeling last. Let's do everything that we can to make the lives of those around us better. Let's show magic and love and life and joy in all we do. No matter the circumstances, let's be something wonderful. Let's shine. You and me. Let's make this Christmas last forever.

With love, J