Christmas Music

I added a little Christmas music to the blog for the next few weeks. The music is one of my favorite parts of the whole Christmas season. I do confess to playing it before Thanksgiving. OK, before Halloween even. But I do not decorate until after Turkey Day, so I'm not totally crazy. And anyway, a lot of the Christmas music that I like is all about Christ's birth, which is something to be celebrated all year. I picked 5 songs that I really, really like. I hope you enjoy them!

1. Somewhere in My Memory
This is the song from 'Home Alone'. Whenever I hear it, warm feelings fill me and I'm reminded of so many happy Christmas memories - Dad driving us around to look at lights on Christmas Eve while Mom finished "getting ready" (i.e. putting presents under the tree), Aunt Bia dressing up as Santa Claus and dancing with Grandma, getting a Cabbage Patch Kid, neighborhood kids swearing that they saw Rudolph on their roof. . . Good times.

2. O Holy Night
This song is probably my absolute favorite Christmas song ever. The words are so powerful and the song so beautiful. I love how Josh Groban sings it. Really, I love how he sings everything; but especially this song. He doesn't try to jazz it up or add any fancy runs. He just sings it. Perfect.

The line in this song that really touches my heart is:
"Long lay the world in sin and error pining
till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices. . . "

3. Welcome to Our World
So many Christmas songs focus on Jesus' birth, which they should as this is what we celebrate at Christmas. But it's not just about the birth of a baby, but Who the baby was and What He came to do. This song reminds me of that. Especially these lines:

"Fragile fingers sent to heal us,
tender brow prepared for thorns,
tiny heart whose blood will save us
unto us is born."

4. Christmas Canon
The first time I remember hearing this song was December 5, 2005. We were bringing a 5-day-old Isabella to her newborn check-up at the doctor's office. The song came on the radio on our way to the appointment, and I just started crying. It was probably all of the postpartum hormones running through me, but I just couldn't stop. And whenever I hear this song, I think of my teeny, tiny newborn baby Isabella.

5. Hallelujah
This song always reminds me of the great victory that Jesus' birth and life really was (and is). I love when she sings, "a Savior has been born and all of Heaven smiled." What a celebration there must have been in Heaven that day!

Welcome to the Christmas season!!! This is my favorite time of year!