I don’t like the Christmas holidays. I don’t like the busyness, I don’t like the obligations, I don’t like the competitions and I don’t like the commercialism. I’ve said MANY times that if I could skip Christmas all together, I would.

The world would have us believe that, in order to really celebrate Christmas, we MUST shop on Black Friday, attend every function we are invited to, eat more than humanly possible, listen to Christmas music starting at Halloween, put up Christmas decorations at Thanksgiving and “one up” every person who gives us a card or gift. We simply have to give gifts to everyone we know (including our pets), smile continuously, buy new clothes, watch countless TV specials, max out our credit cards and drive around looking at Christmas lights night after night. There is no peace on earth if we don’t bake cookies, pies and cakes, make candy, and build a gingerbread house with homemade gingerbread men, women and children – expertly decorated of course. It simply must snow – everywhere.

Husbands scope out the latest in large screen TV’s, golf clubs, ATV’s, guns, cars, Iphones and the like. Women begin back in the summer searching for the prettiest jewelry, nicest shoes, fully funded shopping trips and the latest scents from their favorite designers. Our teenagers have to make a Christmas list full of clothes from Abercrombie, Aeropostle or the GAP, a coat from North Face, shoes from Timberland or Nike and the latest in technological gadgets. Our youngest, full of excitement and wonder, marvel at the toy commercials that appear at every break in their favorite shows. Each item is “the must have toy of the season” and they simply cannot choose so everything makes the list. Stockings are no longer filled with nuts, oranges and apples but Itunes gift cards, movies, games and CD’s. It’s no longer acceptable to have just one game system but rather an, XBOX 360, a PS3 and a Wii are required. Each, of course, with every controller made for each one. Oh, and those are the family gaming systems. We haven’t begun to mention the Nintendo DS, the PSP and other personal gaming systems that each family member has to have.

Wow!

When I first started writing this post, I thought that saying I don’t like Christmas but enjoying certain aspects of the season made me a hypocrite. What I’ve realized is that I don’t like the WORLD’S idea of Christmas.

I got excited about looking at Christmas lights with my daughter on our way home from church. I caught myself enjoying doing Christmas cards. I noted the first time this season I heard a Christmas carol and rejoiced that it was, indeed, a hymn. I had a great time taking my daughters shopping for their friends. I laughed at the 2nd grade’s production of The Nutcracker.

I am enjoying the simplicity of the holiday season…it’s just not how the WORLD says I should. And that doesn’t make me a hypocrite at all.