Burned Out on a King's Birth

It's not a secret to anyone that I don't like Christmas. When I was younger, I couldn't WAIT for the holiday...the surprises, the presents, the trees, the egg nog. I loved it. But somewhere in the time between 7 years old and 31, I began to literally HATE Christmas.

You may wonder why I am bringing this up now. It's October. And this is my point, exactly!

I went to Target the other day to look at potential costumes for my kids for Halloween. I strolled with a childlike grin on my face through two aisles of everything from Wonder Woman and pirates to ghosts and pilots. As I rounded the corner of the aisle to make my way to the next, it's as if time stood still for me and every sound of crying kids and intercom blips went silent.

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS!!!!!

If I could have dramatically fainted or screamed an awe-inspiring shriek at the time, I would have. But instead, my mouth slightly dropped open, I rolled my eyes like a 12 year old girl and whispered to myself "Here....we......go!" Christmas, in October, is already being shoved in our faces. The snowmen, the lights, the trees, the ribbons and ornaments, the largely obnoxious Christmas countdown that ticks away at every moment of my sanity!

You see, it's not necessarily the fact that I don't like the holiday so much as it the culture we live in and how it buys into the idea that we are obligated to give each other gifts before we kneel at the side of the manger of a humble King. Kids become disgruntled at the lack of getting exactly what they wanted or not enough of what they really didn't need in the first place. Parents become stressed and further indebted in thinking that the more they put on a credit card, the happier their family will be to celebrate together.

There are a few Christmas songs that I REALLY love. O Holy Night and Silent Night are two of my all-time favorite Christmas songs. When the Christmas music comes on in the shopping malls and stores the day after Halloween, however, I become inclined to start to despise the songs. After I hear it roughly 237 times over the course of 70 days, performed by appromixately 31 different artists within 12 seperate generes, it gets a little old. I get burned out on it. And then I never want to listen to it again.

Unfortunately, this seems to be the same kind of process I go through with the story of Jesus' birth and the events surrounding it. Do I like to admit that I get burned out on it? No. But it's a truth. I would LOVE to have a "Christmas" message on the first day of Easter, or on Valentine's Day, or just ANY day in the middle of the year. I'd like to celebrate the birth of Jesus just because it gives so much meaning to my life, not just because it's the time of year to do it.

It's October. I want to be able to enjoy my appetizers of Halloween and Thanksgiving before I'm force-fed the buffet of Christmas! :)