When I was growing up, one of my favorite Christmas memories happened on Christmas Eve when our family would pile into the car and drive around to see how everyone had decorated with Christmas lights.  As a kid, taking that ride on Christmas Eve to see the lights was the last thing we did before….Christmas!

Fast forward a few years to when I first met my husband, it was in the Fall of the year and his mother worked for a Christmas tree farm.  I remember the first time I ever went to his home at Christmas time.  There was such warmth there.  His mother has a talent for decorating and hospitality.  She used everyday things, such as the camellias and magnolias from her yard, and the leftover evergreens from the tree farm to make garlands and wreaths. And there were Christmas lights all around. It was elegant, simple, amazing and magical.

When my husband and I decided to get married, we chose the Christmas season for our wedding and the church we were married in (St. Francis Street UMC, in Mobile, AL) was chosen specifically for how the lighting would be at sunset through the Tiffany stained glass windows.  I remember looking up at the stained glass window as I walked down the aisle and seeing a perfect circle as the last remaining lit window around Christ’s head.  A circle of light, symbolic of the never-ending union of our marriage with Christ in the center.

I also remember the perfect zig-zag of Pink Perfection Camellias that dotted the aisle I was about to walk upon.  You see, this church had a strict policy of not allowing rose petals to be dropped on the carpet before the bride processed down the aisle, so we put whole camellias in the basket and our flower girl was supposed to just carry the camellias down the aisle.  Well obviously, at some point in my precious 4 year-old niece’s life, she had seen someone drop rose petals going down the aisle, so….wanting to do her job perfectly…she proceeded to drop the whole flowers as she went.  It was a priceless Kodak moment.

After we married, we began to start our own Christmas traditions.  For our family, the celebration starts soon after “Charlie Brown’s Great Pumpkin” and lasts right own through New Year’s.  And music is a big part of that–classical, jazz, big band, new age, traditional hymns, and more.  The Christmas tree has to be a “live” Frazier Fur and it must have colored lights on it.  And there are special decorations and meals we have throughout the season.   But just like in my childhood, the “lights” of Christmas, still hold the most meaning for me and signal “It’s Christmas”!

We lived up north for a while when my husband was in graduate school and we looked forward to our trips home at the holidays because it was a wonderful time to visit our family and friends.  On the 18 hour road trip from Pennsylvania to Alabama, we would listen to Christmas music.  Many times, we drove that trip straight through and it seemed like it would never end.  But finally, as we turned the corner on 16^th Street and Home Avenue (yes that is the name of the street), we were greeted by old-fashioned, red lanterns lit and gently blowing in the breeze all around the wraparound porch of his parents’ 100 year old farmhouse.  Those lights welcomed us home.  What a beautiful site they were to our travel weary bodies.

The tradition of driving around to see the Christmas light decorations has been carried on by my parents with my children.  Nowadays, the displays are much more elaborate and, in the rural south Alabama area where they live, the displays may cover acres and we can “drive through” to see all the lights.

Through the years, as the preparations for Christmas and the last minute details come to a close, I often find myself the week before Christmas spending a few late nights as the last person up in the evening at my house.  At these times, I often sit for a few minutes by the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree to wind down and reflect on many blessings in my life.  These quiet times and our candlelight service on Christmas Eve when we lift our candles singing “Silent Night” are some of my favorite Christmas moments.  And sometimes, I imagine those weary travelers 2000 years ago following a light as they looked for Emmanuel–God, who came to be with us—who came to be with me…and I am humbled, and amazed.  But I’m so thankful that Jesus, the light of the world, came to earth on that holy night so long ago to shine His light in my darkness and bring peace.  And because of this, may my light shine and show His love to all those I meet. Because of “the light–It’s Christmas!”