In the TRUE Spirit of the Season
This December, I’m doing something different.
Instead of blasting Christmas carols from Thanksgiving onward—or, let’s be honest, from Halloween when Costco and half the stores decided Christmas had “arrived”—I’m choosing to actually honor the waiting. Advent isn’t a pre-Christmas sprint. It’s a season meant to slow us down, to watch, to long, and to prepare room in our hearts for Christ’s coming, while remembering that we’re still waiting for His return.
But our culture hates waiting. It rushes us, pressures us, markets to us, and tries to convince us that the magic of Christmas is something we can buy early and check off the list. By December 26th, it’s already moved on.
The Church tells a different story: first we wait. Then we celebrate. And we celebrate for twelve days. This Advent, I’m slowing down to put Christ back into Christmas—to make space in my heart, my home, and my life for what really matters.
So this year, I put together an Advent playlist—14 songs that help me resist the rush and lean into the quiet ache of expectation. Music that helps me remember that Advent is not Christmas… it’s the doorway to it!
Then, on Christmas morning, I’ll switch to the joyful carols—Joy to the World, Away in a Manger, the songs that belong to the feast, not the fast. And I’ll keep that feast going all the way through Epiphany, when the Magi arrive to worship the newborn King. Stay “tuned”–I’ll post that playlist on Christmas Eve!
If you’re tired of being rushed, sold to, and swept along by a culture that wants Christmas without Christ—and wants it over before it begins—join me.
Let’s wait well. And then let’s celebrate big!
