Can I Say It?
Merry Christmas!
Ok, confession time. I have already been watching Christmas movies for 2-3 weeks. Therefore, I feel now is as good a time as any to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas season.
Truth be told, we all know our inboxes will soon be obnoxiously full of the obligatory marketing “Merry-Christmas-Buy-Our-Stuff” emails, and I do not like contributing to the decision fatigue those overflowing inboxes create.
(Sidenote – I dedicate time each year around this season to unsubscribe/alter my subscriptions with various places. It can be a pain, but I always enjoy having a nicely decluttered inbox as a new year approaches.)
With that, I am intentionally early in wishing you a Merry Christmas. I know the coming months can stir up many emotions, good and bad. And that’s ok. Many of us will not spend our holidays in the places we prefer or with the ones we love. Yet, others of us will be nestled in our favorite holiday places this coming season.
This year will be full of old traditions and new ones alike. I hope that you can embrace them all, and no matter how different the coming holidays look from what you are used to or how similar – know that the Lord is with you. You are loved, and you are not alone or forgotten.
There are a few different camps when it comes to Christmas movies. There is the camp in which my tent is pitched, where we don’t feel there should be any restraints on the Christmas movie season. Then there are the traditionalists who wait until after Thanksgiving.
Such self-control that camp has. I applaud you!
I’d love to hear in which camp you reside. Even if for no other reason than to console me with encouragement from others that claim my camp. 😉 Likewise, some kind jeering from the traditionalists is always fun.
And when I say Christmas movies, those of you who live in my camp probably read that as “Hallmark Movies.” Welcome, fam! My tent has cookies!
The funny thing about my overzealous attitude toward Christmas movies is that I’m not a movie person. I’m not even a TV person. I might watch a total of 3 or 4 movies all year. Then, BAM, Christmas movies daily – if possible.
I am probably the most uninformed person you know when it comes to anything concerning pop culture. TV shows, movies, music, I’m almost entirely ignorant. Any mention of TV show “X” in conversation with me typically results in a blank stare as I hope to garner enough context clues from you that I might have some idea what the show is about.
Please accept me and my nerdiness. It’s all I have to offer.
There is also the camp that doesn’t care for Christmas movies at all simply because of their predictability. Here is my rebuttal to that argument.
Christmas movies are Biblical in their format.
You see, the typical Hallmark movie format is this. A problem arises, a boy meets a girl, they realize they love one another, some tension makes the ending look bleak, and finally, they reconcile to one another, and we get our happy ending.
Predictable? Totally!
The Bible tells a similar story. The problem of sin arose. A Man came for His bride. The bride receives His love and realizes her love for Him. They are physically separated for a time, and there is much tension until He returns. Then, we get our happy ending.
I believe we are hardwired to enjoy watching such dramas play out. With each movie, we are reminded that He is coming. Joy, victory, happiness, and peace are ours through Him!
I want to tell you a secret. I read the end of The Book. There will be lots of tension as His return approaches, but the ending is as predictable as a Hallmark movie. He defeats all our enemies. He solves all our problems, and He will stand victorious. We will be one with our Groom.
As we move into the holiday season, I pray that you enjoy the cheesy, predictable movies not for creating earthly expectations but instead, let those movies focus you on The Groom, who will, quite literally, sweep us off our feet one day.
