I’ve been debating what I wanted to do on the blog once NaNo was finished, and I think I’ve figured it out.

I debated about posting daily as I did Advent and Christmas things, but I looked at my track record with daily posts that I can’t pre-schedule and decided that was probably not the way to help my Christmas spirit thrive.

Not that there won’t be posts or pictures of things that I do, because I’ve got quite a bit of stuff that I’m looking forward to this Christmas season.

But I’ll be honest, one of the things I love most about Christmas is the music. I actually have a Christmas playlist that has eight hours of music, and very few repeats of songs. So I scrolled through it, picked out all of my favorite favorite songs, and realized that there were exactly 25 of them.

Christmas has been hard the past couple of years. In 2012, there was a lot of family stuff happening, and while Christmas Day itself ended up being quite peaceful, the entire month prior to it was fraught with drama and heartache.

And last year… well, I lost Tabby less than three weeks before Christmas. It was just plain old hard to get into the Christmas spirit after that.

This year, there are no imminent disasters and heartache on the horizon, God willing, and while I’m struggling a bit since Christmas has come to mean more problems than joy the past couple years, I’m determined to revive myself.

So I’m going to share Christmas with you all, in this little way.

I Need A Silent Night (Amy Grant)

I first heard this song the year it came out, and it happened to be when I was still working a full-time job. It wasn’t just any full-time job, though. I was working at Chick-Fil-A, and since the location I was at was very close to most of the major shopping outlets in the city, it meant the holidays were very busy, and came with ample opportunities for overtime.

It was exhausting, and honestly after dealing with customers for 8+ hours every single day – many of them who were just as exhausted as I was with everything they had to do, too – it was hard to relax and enjoy the season.

And then this song would come on the radio, and it was a breath of fresh air to me. Even now, whenever I hear the song, I find myself just stopping and listening to the real message behind it.

What this song really says to me is “It’s okay to just be quiet. There is more to life than simply rushing from place to place. Don’t forget what Christmas is really about.”

Because what Christmas is really about is not the gifts we run around trying to accrue both for ourselves and for others.

It’s about the most incredible, amazing Gift given to us for our salvation.

“Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations.

I will be exalted in the earth.”

Psalms 46:10 WEB

What helps you to quiet down during this holiday season, whether you celebrate Christmas or something else?