TV specials were a big part of Christmas as I grew up.  They were on only once a year, so I waited for each with great anticipation.  Wikia has put together a guide to the 2008 Christmas specials.  When I was a kid, I only had 3 stations to keep track of; now with hundreds of cable channels, Wikia has done an impressive job keeping track of the favorites and the new ones, too.

http://christmas-specials.wikia.com/wiki/2008_Christmas_Specials_TV_Schedule

Maria Rodgers O’Rourke, author of Prepare Your Heart for a Great Christmas, will sign copies of her book Sunday, December 14th at Borders, Sunset Hills, from 1-3 p.m. Stop by and say hello and get some shopping done!  With reflections that take us into the New Year, the book is a wonderful gift for someone you love or yourself.

Borders Sunset Hills is located on Watson Road between Lindbergh and Highway 270.  See you there!

Today we’re taking out the rest of the decorations and getting the Christmas tree up in the living room.  If I think of how much there is to do, I just get tired!  So, I’m taking it one task at a time and remaining reasonably calm!

I’m grateful today for Christmas music, my daughter’s joy and the health that I trust is returning to my husband who’s down with the cold and sore throat the girls had last week.  I’m also grateful for the delightful party we attended last night that helped lift me out of a serious funk. 

Please pray for Steve’s mom who’s back in the hospital battling cancer.  This is the second holiday season in a row that she’s been hospitalized.  We lift her up and pray for healing and strength.

In Prepare Your Heart for a Great Christmas we read today:

There’s an empty bucket in each of us.  Blaise Pascal called it a “God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator.”

This season, my family’s bucket is bigger than ever.  We have multiple concerns in nearly every area of our lives: financial, physical, emotional.  We’re surrendering to circumstances we cannot control.  The emptiness left by this surrender will be filled by God the creator.  We trust.  We wait.  On our front door is a sign I purchased last year:  This House Believes.  Little did I know how important that message would be for us this year.

To listent to the full text of today’s reflection from Prepare Your Heart for a Great Christmas, scroll down the left side of the page for a green box with today’s podcast.  You can also find past podcasts by clicking on “posts” in the green box. 

Amy Grant loves Christmas.  She’s recorded three holiday CD’s in her career and this year has released a new collection, compiling four new tracks and her favorite songs from her previous CD’s. 

Many artists who achieve her stature as a grammy-winning and multi-platinum selling performer are obliged to add their takes to the traditional favorites to the holiday music lexicon.  Often while listening to Christmas music on the radio, I wonder if the singer really has a heart for the material.  It’s clear Amy does.

What sets Amy apart is that she really means it when she invites us to have a merry little Christmas.  Whether joyful or solemn, Amy’s beautiful pop voice strikes the right tone.  Her heart is in all these songs.  Clearly, her faith and family traditions hold profound meaning for her this time of year.  When we join her in the music, we’re uplifted with the spirit of the season as well.

The new tracks on her current Christmas CD continue her heartfelt holiday spirit.  Of the four contributions, my favorite is I Need a Silent Night.  It gives voice to the unspoken wish of all frazzled moms this time of year:

I need a silent night, a Holy night to hear an angel voice

Through the chaos and the noise I need a midnight clear

A little peace right here to end this crazy day with a silent night

The song features Amy’s daughter Corrina reading the Luke account of the birth of Jesus.  Her sweet voice harkens to the angel Amy wants to hear during her silent night.  Like Linus in A Charlie Brown Christmas, she reminds us of the reason for the season. Perhaps Corrina also reminds us to be attentive to all the angels in our lives, and not get so caught up in the bustle that we brush past them and miss tender moments. 

Amy’s other new tracks include her covers of Jingle Bells, the arrangement made famous by Barbra Streisand, and Count Your Blessings, a tender song from the classic movie White Christmas.  Amy and husband Vince Gill composed Baby, It’s Christmas, a soft jazz, slightly sexy ode to the one you’ve been meeting under the mistletoe. 

Our family has grown up with Amy through her Christmas recordings, and the new collection spans the decades from Tennessee Christmas to Breath of Heaven and A Christmas to Remember.  With her new collection, Amy invites us celebrate the season with her, right where we are.  She’s real, she’s hopeful; her heart is in all her work.  We know Christmas has arrived when Amy’s voice fills our home.

Today I am grateful for The Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah and for the Parkway North High School Combined Choirs and Orchestra who performed it last evening.  It was gorgeous and thrilling!  It is their tradition that the director, Brian Reeves, invites the audience to participate. 

As this is Abby’s freshman year, this was a surprise invitation.  Steve jumped up to participate, and with a bit of prompting I followed suit.  Soon, there were 3 of my four family members–Abby in the soprano section, Steve in tenor and I in alto–lifting our hearts to our omnipotent God.  Steve and I used to sing in our parish choir, and last participated in the Chorus when Abby was just a baby. 

Praise God for this unexpected Christmas Moment!  With all we have going on in our lives, I needed the reminder that “The Lord God, omnipotent, reigneth.”  God is in charge.  And, the soaring music did indeed lift my heart and officially ensconce me in the “Christmas Spirit.”  Hallelujah!

Today in Prepare Your Heart for a Great Christmas, we read:

Giving is great exercise.  It stretches and opens our rigid selves to new experiences and possibilities.  From networking meetings to soup kitchens, we are all part of a circle of goodness far greater than any we could quantify.  Thus, it really isn’t about the size of our gift, it’s about giving, period.

Today I am grateful for:

• God, who is bigger than all our concerns;
• My girls and their returning health;
• Dear friends;
• Music.

Have a great day!

 While the standards are playing on the radio, here’s a great Christmas song you won’t hear all the time. This song transformed my Christmas a couple of years ago, and touches my heart every time I hear it.  (My brother-in-law Mike from Fort Worth, Texas introduced me to it.  Thanks, Mike!) Christmas is Almost Here is powerful on multiple levels.  First, Carly Simon’s lovely, slightly raspy voice captures the longing many experience during the holidays.  Livingston Taylor’s lush verses carry us from Christmas in our homes:

There’s a hand that’s old and rough
And it’s holding on
To one that’s new and small
Whose life has just begun
Hand in hand
Young and old
Calm each others fears
Christmas is almost here

To the first Christmas:  

There’s a rocky road ahead
Two people walk alone
Wondering in the fading light
If they can find their home
When hope is almost gone
A distant light appears
Christmas is almost here 

To the manger in our hearts, longing for love–whether it be romantic, or grieving the loss of a loved one:

Almost here for those in doubt
For those who must remain
Left behind when love goes cold
And shifting life makes change

Almost here for dreamers
Who think that there’s a chance
That they will find their music
And a partner for the dance 

Then, Livingston and Carly weave all these Christmas spots together, as love has found a companion and the wise men follow the star.  Our longing hearts follow the star, too.  The promise of Christmas assures us that our faith is, as is written in Hebrews 11:1–the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. 

There’s a dream that doesn’t die
Now we walk as one
Justice has a gentle hand
And love is like the sun

The darkest night is past
And by the stars we steer
Christmas is almost here
Christmas is almost here

Be sure to listen through to the end; Carly’s last long note will touch your soul! 

Maria’s Hidden Christmas Tracks:

Some people I talk with are surprised when I tell them I’m “blogging the book” along with my readers.  I think they assume that when a book is written, the author has mastered the information and lessons in the book.

Not for this author!  Richard Bach has said we teach that which we most need to learn, and this is certainly true in my case!  So I am reading and working the book again this year, open to the new insights that God has in store for me.

Today is a great example of one of God’s blessed surprises for me!  The story of Zechariah and how his faith was challenged by the angel’s message speaks to my life right now.  These last few days I’ve been disappointed that some situations haven’t gone as I planned.  I thought I was doing everything “right,” but the outcome didn’t match what I had in mind.  Like Zechariah, I’ve been stuck thinking that since things didn’t go the way I’d planned, I’ve been nearly “convinced that it simply couldn’t be done.” 

My own words remind me that “turning dreams into reality is God’s work, though.  When we ask God for something, we need to let go of the outcome and trust that our prayers will be answered in the way that is best for us.”

Today I am grateful for this gentle reminder that God is infinitely creative and generous and will not be outdone in either!

Today’s dose of gratitude:

• for my husband and daughters;
• for our warm home;
• for the dear friends we’ll have dinner with tonight;
• for this season that reminds me there are new possibilities out there, not only the ones I dream up on my own.

Today my intention is to spend uninterrupted time with my girls.

Have a great day, everyone!