The List Compiled

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year!!!”

Do I hear an Amen?

No?

It’s not the song that has captured my heart this season either.  I’m actually enjoying the song, “My Favorite Things.”  Do you remember it?  From The Sound of Music?  Maria (Julie Andrews) sang it to calm the Von Trapp children during a thunderstorm.

I wouldn’t necessarily place it in the same genre as Christmas music, but for whatever reason it’s played on radio stations across the country this time of year.

When I’m feeling bad,

I simply remember my favorite things. 

And then I don’t feel so bad.

I polled a few of you.  (Thank you for your responses.)  I asked for you to list your top three favorite things.  Your list could only include “things,” not people, places or activities.

I read response after response, and saw a pattern.  Your favorite things all pointed to one theme: Simplicity.  You either listed things that made your life simpler, or you listed simple things that hold a special place in your life.

I guess it’s not surprising.  After all, I don’t think we intentionally seek after the complicated.  I think deep down all of us long for simplicity.  However, Christmastime is about as complicated as it gets.

Decorating, shopping, baking, cooking, wrapping, mailing, entertaining, traveling, volunteering, and going, going, going.  And this is on top of the normal everyday tasks we already do.

Somehow I don’t think Mary, the mother of Jesus, struggled with all this craziness.  Times were simpler—but miraculous all at once.  Even the hotel debacle wasn’t that complicated.  Messy, and maybe noisy—yes.  But not complicated.  The Father took care of Mary and Joseph.  He provided just the right setting at just the right time to usher in the most amazing miracle ever.

I wonder what would happen if we really believed God?  Believed that He holds us in His hands.  Believed that He is in the details of our lives.  Believed that He will take care of us all the time.  I wonder what would happen if we quieted our souls and just watched for miracles to happen in our own lives?

I believe Mary quietly observed all that was going on around her.  I even think she kept a list of her own favorite things.  Who knows, maybe it was her favorite things that kept her at peace through the miracle that was taking place in front of her.

But Mary treasured up all these things

and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19

Perhaps it’s time we took a cue from Mary this Season–make this Christmas different.  Maybe it’s time for us to slow down, stop, and take in Christmas—quietly.  A little more observing; a lot less doing.  What would that look like for you?  It might just start with your favorite things:

Wedding band

Half cut iced tea from McDonalds

A hot bath

Kindle

K-cup coffee machine

B&R Baseball Nut Ice Cream

Sewing Machine

Sandals

Pepsi

Morning coffee

Pedicure

Music

iPad

Clean home

Nativity scene in yard

Sound of a content baby

Books (new, old, electronic, paperback, hard bound)

Brand new socks

Wood burning fireplace

Diet Coke

Smart phone

Toasted Pecans

A trusty car to get around

Great pair of jeans

Glass of wine

Bible

Chocolate

Lip gloss

Peppermint Patty Coffee Creamer

Mild Duds

Sunshine

A blanket

Salty Snack

French Press Coffee

Great smelling perfume

Zumba

Lays Potato Chips

New car

Homemade soup

Movies

Snow

Campfire

(In no particular order.)