I will in advance, ask for your forgiveness, as I have a feeling this blog post might ramble a bit. I have not given a whole lot of thought on HOW to say or type what I want to say, but I have given a bit of thought on how I FEEL about what I want to say.

Is there really any other time that can even compare to Christmas? I'm sure there are moments in our lives but nothing that is quite like the Christmas season.

As Halloween has past and in between eating my children's Halloween candy, I am in full Christmas mode as the planning and preparation stage of the season, that has consumed my life, draw to a close. We will all find ourselves, if not already, in the middle of the great "show" as we hear in the film "Elf." The busy time, the hectic time, but also a magical and joyous time too.

Yesterday, November 1st, I found myself sitting in the car to run an errand with the kids and turned on the radio. Now, I'm sure you can guess what happened next...Christmas music - 24/7 until December 26th. I have always tried to keep my celebrating Christmas until after Thanksgiving but it has gotten harder and harder to do. I'm working on Christmas props, preparing for Christmas events, thinking about Christmas things, teaching and directing Christmas music...it's all around me. So, I've stopped fighting it so much.

The song on the radio was "I'll be Home for Christmas" and I could not help but get a little choked up. I know the history of the song, what it means to so many people, and even remember singing it while abroad and knowing I was not coming home for Christmas, obviously also thinking about our US military. What we find in a song is so much more than notes and words. For me, I believe and feel that music has a direct connection to our soul. We can feel, emote, express, and even learn much more through music and with music. I have many memories attached to particular songs and sitting there listening to the radio, made me very grateful for our amazing anthology of Christmas music we have to enjoy.

We all have a favorite song, perhaps a few. Some are whimsical, some serious, some are of Santa Claus, some of the birth of the Christ child, my Savior. These songs, for me, ARE so much what Christmas is all about. Hearing these melodies on the radio had my heart, my mind, and my soul jumping for joy, "IT'S HERE! IT'S REALLY HERE...IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME!"

While I have a great love for Thanksgiving, and i don't want to see commercialism step on the feet of this wonderful holiday, I have so much to be grateful for. This day, among many many things, I am grateful for Christmas music.

So, what is your favorite Christmas song?