It Feels Like Christmas when...

I often hear people in Dallas say, "It doesn't feel like Christmas, yet." I'm not sure if this is a common experience everywhere or if it is simply the lack of snow in Texas that makes people say that.

For me, the defining moment of when it starts to "feel" like Christmas has nothing to do with snow. Nor is it about having my shopping done, baking gingerbread, lighting a fire or even putting the tree up. For me, the feeling of Christmas always lands at some point during the children's Christmas production at church.

There is something moving about listening to children sing carols and relay the story of Jesus' birth. Something magical about kids in costume, looking about, forgetting lines, letting the person next to them know they need to be on the other side of the stage.... Something holiday television specials simply can't deliver.

John says it makes me nostalgic for when our kids were little, but I think it is more than that.

I think maybe somewhere in the throng of adoring parents armed with video cameras, that Christ is right there beaming too. And that is exactly, what makes it Christmas.