Distractions

This weekend at The Orchard, Scott Hodge talked about distractions.  We are distracted all year long but when it comes to the Advent Season, it seems like our distractions double or even triple.  This is the time of year were we really should be focused on Jesus and his coming.  It is a shame though that a lot of us don’t really think about Jesus and Christmas until we are sitting in church on Christmas Eve.

We make ourselves so busy during the month that we don’t even have time to stop and think about it.  Even when we go to church our minds are thinking about all the stuff that still needs to be done before Christmas.

Our staff was given this book, Preparing for Christmas by Richard Rohr. It has a daily Advent reading and really helps prepare your heart for Christmas.  It also forces to you think about Christmas and what Jesus’s Birth means to us.  I highly recommend it.

There are less than 2 weeks until Christmas.  I am making it a daily challenge to spend some quiet time thinking about and preparing for the real Christmas and rejoicing that Jesus came to save us.

Holiday Traditions

I think I started a new tradition.  Sirius Satellite Radio changes channel 4 to an all Christmas music channel after Thanksgiving.  It is awesome and I have not changed the channel since.  It is called Holiday Traditions  They play only older traditional Christmas music.  Everything from Dean Martin to Jim Nabors to Bing Crosby to Nat King Cole.  It always puts a smile on my face and brings back many memories of past Christmas’s.  Coming back from sledding I was singing along with Joy to the World and Logan said “you sound like Grandpa”.  Well, my parents will be very surprised to read that.

I have also created my own station on Pandora that I am actually listening to as I type this.

My two favorite traditional Christmas songs are “Carol of the Bells” and “O Holy Night”.  What are yours?