Ring the Bells!

Ring the bells!

Joy to the world!

Hark! the herald angels sing! Glory to the newborn King!

I hear a lot of people asking when it's okay to listen to Christmas music. I agree that it's just fine to listen all year if you like, but I don't choose to. I listen to worship music constantly. I drive a lot for work, and I have 4 local Christian music radio stations programmed on the car radio. That way I can switch if someone starts talking. The music encourages me, reminds me of what's important, recharges me, and often pulls me out of a negative mental spiral. If I can't sleep, I have a Christian music stream on my phone to play softly and lull me back to sleep.

So, when my favorite radio stations start playing Christmas music after Thanksgiving, I'm not completely happy. Holly Jolly Christmas and Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer don't have any power over my mood. For the first 3 weeks of December, though, I can usually find a station playing something I like. The last few days before Christmas though, it gets harder.

Yesterday I had a rough day. Things were busy. Lots of people needed me for lots of things. I wasn't getting my alone time, and I felt like I was under a lot of pressure. I behaved badly. I raised my voice, stormed around, cried a lot, even threw a few things. To be honest, I had a 5 year old tantrum. 

So today I was really happy to go to work. I get drive time to myself, and I even had a short day. Our old dog Maya hasn't been doing very well, and she's been riding along with me. I finished all my patient visits and charting, finished my Christmas errands, went to the butcher and got bones for the dogs. I stopped by the lake to look for birds and give the dog a walk.

As I turned the car toward home, a song came on the radio: Ring the Bells. Suddenly, I wanted to raise my arms and shout, 

"Yes! Ring the Bells! RING THE BELLS!" 

Christmas may have started with Jesus' first breath in the manger in Bethlehem, but the story really begins when Jesus took his first breath after the crucifixion and rose from the tomb. That was the breath that changed everything. That breath changed the world. So ring the bells, because the world has been given joy. Jesus gave us redemption, a gift that we should never stop celebrating.

I may be kind of Grinchy about some of the Christmas hoopla. I confess that I wrapped my family's presents in that brown paper that comes in the big Chewy box with the dog food. I still haven't made the gingerbread houses. I didn't put a wreath on the door. But Jesus is in my heart, God calls me His own, the Holy Spirit speaks to me. What priceless treasures I have because of Christmas.

Let's play some Christmas music, and ring the bells to celebrate!