Well, the little contest I ran on my blog has drawn to a close and I had the really tough job of picking a winner from two entries. Either that means that some super evil henchman bent on burying my existence kept the post hidden from all of the people on the internets (except for two people) OR the 40+ readers of my blog are actually robots who don’t get music (maybe I need to offer a case of WD-40 as a prize for the next contest).  Um, yeah.  Ha!  Nevertheless as promised, I picked a winner for the iTunes Christmas Music songs AND have written a post with their answer.

The winner was Thomas, who wrote:

What I like about Christmas is the joy it brings to everyone and how the holiday spirit seems to cheer up even grumpy people. Mostly Christmas is all about the kids though. You can’t beat the way their little faces light up while they are opening presents.

Congratulations Thomas (I don’t have a link to a website from him but if I get one I’ll add it in here)!  You have the fine distinction of being the first person to win the very FIRST contest on my blog!  WOW!  Someday that may be really significant…

What do you think of Thomas’s answer?  Do you agree?

I have to agree with seeing kids faces light up.  I get joy out of watching my kids open gifts as well.  My joy is mixed with a little bit of hope though.  Hope, that for my kids, Christmas isn’t just about the presents.  Hope that they truly get the significance of the miracle of Incarnation, of the gifts that really matter from our Heavenly Father.  I hope that they don’t grow up only thinking about what they’ll get but more importantly what they’ll give.  Thing is, as I hope for this,  I realize that a huge part of that hope being fulfilled in their lives is if it’s being fulfilled in mine AND if I give them opportunities to join with me in it.

So, what do I like most about Christmas?  Of course, Christmas is a reminder of the birth of Christ and yes, I like that celebration (but really,  is it something that should ONLY be celebrated on a single day?)  but assuming that’s a given, what I really like most about Christmas is the in-between times.  The times when I’m just. doing. nothing.

So you missed the contest?  I’m still interested in hearing what you like most about Christmas…