Love or Hate the Holiday

I hesitated to title this post the way I did...I just don't know any other way to state the emotions that arise with the holiday season! One minute I love the idea of getting out all my decorations and putting up the tree and hearing Christmas music nonstop on the radio in my car and at work..then the next........I'm thinking.......this music is driving me crazy........how many times a day can you take listening to Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer!! And if I hear Willie Nelson sing a carol one more time I'm gonna scream!!! Willie, you need to stick to country! Let me just list a few things I hate and then I'll bring on the love list...this may help me sort things out and learn to deal with my emotional highs and lows of the season!
I hate the pressure that the holiday puts on me....I don't function well under pressure...deadlines..get things done! Procrastination is my biggest enemy this time of year and I seem to wallow in it......
I hate the fact that everyone has high expectations only of what they will receive and not what they can give!
I hate the price of postage stamps...you need to take out a loan to mail your Christmas cards!
I hate knowing that there are children who will wake up to no presents and possibly no dinner, not only in other parts of the world...but right here in our fair country!
Now for the love list:
I love Christmas because we can celebrate the birthday of Jesus!
I love to drive around town and see all the pretty lights.
I love knowing that it's a guaranteed day off cause the store is closed all day Dec. 25!
I get mail!
I love it when everyone exercises their sense of humor at work, even when the pressure is on to stay on task and not fool around!
I love making homemade peanut brittle!
That's enough...........you make your own list and lets be honest, Christmas is meant to be about love and..........God gave us the gift of Christ out of His love for us.........to celebrate the season means to show our love for Him by loving each other! Giving gifts is a tradition that will always be associated with Christmas and it's a great tradition. We all love to receive gifts, but don't let the gift giving and getting overshadow the real reason for the season.......to celebrate a Gift given over two thousand years ago!