Once Upon a Time at Christmas…

The tinkering sound of sleigh bells… the delicious aroma of gingerbread cookies… the site of my mother’s gorgeous Christmas tree in the foyer, lit up like the Rockefeller Center… the joyous sound of familiar Christmas songs and carols wafting all about… reading “A Christmas Carol” or “Little Women” for the umpteenth time…  

Is there anything really better than Christmas?

If you’re anything like me, you look forward to the joys of Christmas all year long! There’s just something about Christmastime that makes my soul warm up and melt like the little white marshmallows in my hot cocoa by the fire.

Whether it’s the smell of Christmas greenery like fir and spruce, the sight of a cheerful hearth, the hug from my Nana, or the sight of the presents under the tree, I get a special magical feeling in my chest whenever the Christmas season begins. There’s something in the air that assures me everything will be okay, and that life is truly good.

But a few years ago, I started noticing a shift at Christmastime. I’m not sure if it’s due to the influence of social media, or our obsession with consumerism in America, but something about this season started to feel…

Commercial.

Inauthentic.

Superficial.

Around that time, I began collecting books on Christmas. I wondered into used bookstores (like I have a habit of doing nearly every weekend) and meandered in search of any books I could find on the subject.

Over time, I have collected tomes on Christmas traditions, Christmas history Christmas theology, activities, recipes, and old-timey stories from decades past. I found books on love stories and books about Advent; stories of Christmas miracles and Christmas recipe books. I collected them all and began to put an idea together based on the conviction that others longed for something more around Christmastime as much as I did.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good Christmas Hallmark movie as much as anybody! But I also felt a longing for a deeper connection with the Christmas season that would leave me feeling full instead of empty, connected instead of alone, and spiritually changed instead of merely entertained.

My search was for what Christmas is really all about, or, as I like to call it, “The True Meaning of Christmas.”

The blog you see before you is the result of this endeavor. I long to write words that will touch your heart, offer you a fun and sometimes meditative space, and hopefully remind you that you don’t have to do Christmas like the rest of the world does.

This blog and online community are about remembering how to enjoy Christmas in a real and meaningful way. Let’s call it an “Authentic Christmas.”

I can’t wait to provide you with information on Christmas traditions and Christmas songs, Christmas trees and Christmas meals. There’s so much Christmas to write about!

But ultimately I hope to inspire you and encourage you on your own journey back to the true joys of an Authentic Christmas. Look around here. Grab a notebook and write down the ideas you like. Start planning ahead. Get excited for the most joyful season to come. 

And most of all, be encouraged. The Christmas season is not about you—pressure’s off!

That’s because the Christmas season is all about Christ. And this year, God longs to fill your heart with His goodness and love. No matter what you’re going through, whether it be financial troubles, grief, cancer, heartbreak, singleness, addiction, loneliness…

God sees you. God cares about you. And God wants to touch your heart and connect with you this Christmas.

This year, you can be a vessel of love and a receptor of God’s peace. Just as “the Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6), Jesus, was sent to earth in a manger, God has sent His Peace to comfort you in your time of need. You can access the Lord’s peace, contentment, provision, and comfort this Christmas season, exactly where you are, without having to jump through any hoops and loops.

Let go of the commercialized busy-ness, the superficialities, or simply the desire to run from Christmas altogether. Instead, God wants to meet you and touch your heart–and that’s what Christmas is really all about.

Christmas Blessings,

Lyndsi  B.

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” —A Christmas Carol