My Kind of Christmas

By Tammy Davis

 

There’s always music in our school cafeteria. I love that.  This time of year, it’s Christmas music. Even better.

When I first arrive for my early morning duties, I have one or two kids.  They are still a little sleepy and quiet.  The music plays in the background. It’s a lovely way to start my day.

Lunchtime brings a different story. The children are not sleepy, and it is not peaceful and quiet.  It’s exactly what a middle school cafeteria should be, lively and happy and a little bit loud!

Last week I thought I heard one of my favorite Christmas Carols, but I wasn’t sure.  I always love it when I hear that one particular song for the first time each season.

Because of the cafeteria chaos, I could only hear bits and pieces of the song.  I was getting frustrated.  I waited until the kids ran out to recess, went to my empty classroom and pulled out my Christmas CD.    I heard the whole song without interruption. Much better.

I can’t stop thinking about that scene in the cafeteria.  It feels a little like my life this time of year.  I want my holidays to be meaningful, but it’s easy to get overwhelmed.  My good intentions often get drowned out with the noise of the day.  There’s nothing wrong with any of the noise.  Kids eating lunch, laughing and being kids.  Shopping the sales and decorating the house.  It’s all good, normal everyday life!

But I do wonder if I am cheating myself – only getting bits and pieces of the Christmas spirit just like I was only getting bits and pieces of the carol playing during middle school lunch.

Not What God Had in Mind

That same week, I starting decorating.  There are parts of the process that I love, but the tree and the lights almost do me in.  I am neither tall nor strong nor patient, all qualities that a good tree-putter-upper should have. At one point I found myself sitting on the floor almost in tears.  I don’t think this is what God had in mind.

Something had to give.  So, I made a decision.  I am choosing to have a good enough Christmas.  I will decorate, but it doesn’t have to be perfect.  Just good enough.  I will shop and cook but in moderation.  Christmas meals don’t have to be over the top.  They can be good enough.

What Will It Be?  It’s Up to Me!

We get to decide how our holidays go.  We can Pinterest ourselves to death trying to make our house look like an HGTV Christmas reveal, or we can volunteer at a homeless shelter, or we can sit and watch Hallmark Movies, but our choices need to be based on what feeds our soul, not on what society dictates.  We can cook enough to feed five armies or we can shop for a needy family.  Kitch and cookies or kindness and compassion?   We can run ourselves ragged or we can run to yoga class.  The chaos will always be there,  excited students and dogs to walk and buzzers at church league basketball games.  Our lives are noisey.  It’s our job to tune out the inconsequential and tune in to our higher selves.  The spirit of the holidays is there.  The magic of our intuition is there.  It’s up to us to get ourselves quiet and listen..

It won’t be easy.  Chaos has begun.  Traffic has picked up.  Schedules are exploding.  It won’t be easy, but I going to try.  I’m going to try and tune out all the chatter and nonsense.  More “want to do” on my list than “need to do.”  If I could do it in the cafeteria, I can do it anywhere.    Even in that noisy cafeteria, I was aware of the carols in the background, playing steadily through all the noise.  Even though I couldn’t hear all of it, I knew the song was there.  That’s how it is with the true spirit of Christmas, I think.  It’s our jobs to get still enough to find it.

I want to hold to my “cafeteria lesson.”  It’s ok to hear the noise of the holidays, there’s no getting around that.  But I don’t want to be led by the noise.  I don’t want to spend my holidays almost in tears because of the things I can’t do or the things I’m too tired to do or the things I hate doing alone.  I am going to focus on the things that I can do that bring me joy.  I think God would like that.  I think I’ll like that, too.

 

 

 

Visit www.tammydavisstories.com or find her on Facebook.