Real Magic

I’m kind of crazy. Planning and decorating for things like church Christmas parties and weddings makes me a little giddy. It also stresses me out. But… it’s a good kind of stress that I thrive on and tend to create for myself.  And it’s rubbing off on my 4 year old.

We just got done helping with the set up and take down of our Christmas party at church and Adam LOVED helping. When the day came to set up the party and decorations he was counting the seconds to set up time.

Then I made the mistake of telling him a whole DAY before the party that Santa would be there.

I know, I know…rookie mistake!

Needless to say, we didn’t sleep much the night before the party. He rustled around in his sleep and came in to our room every time he thought it was morning.  I carried him back to his bed, he went back to sleep, and started sleep talking. Something about the Christmas party. It was all too magical to sleep.

What happens to that magic?

When do we transition from a sleepless, suspenseful Christmas Eve to the apathetic realism that it's just another day?

I remember as a little girl lying in bed on Christmas Eve just willing myself to sleep so Santa could visit--to no avail. My eyelids and consciousness were fruitlessly pulled open by the magic. Even as I began drifting to sleep, some part of my awareness was anxiously awaiting the magic, ready to fly into full sensibility should a jingle bell ring, or a heavy boot stomp out of the fireplace. Even when my mind finally crossed over in awareness, the slightest sound or light would wake me, protecting me against the chance that I should sleep through Christmas morning. Then 5:30 hit and that was good enough. I knew my parents wouldn’t reasonably consider anything earlier than 6:30 as the start of the day, but at least this way I could wake my siblings and we could spend the next hour anticipating the magic together. I LOVED the magic. I treasured the magic. So much so that I kept pretending I believed in Santa until 6^th grade!

I knew I didn’t believe anymore, but I wanted to.

The following few years I still felt the magic because I had younger siblings. It was so fun to anticipate the magic in their eyes each Christmas morning.

And I envied them.

I wished I didn’t know.

Now that I have my own children I understand. CHILDREN keep the magic of the Christmas spirit alive. After all, isn’t that what affected the greatest transformation in Scrooge? A child’s sweet innocence, their freely-giving nature, their trusting confidence, their unconditional love. The qualities children innately have are what Christmas is all about.

I started telling Adam that there are only 2 forms of magic that are real—the Magic of the Christmas Spirit and the Magic of Love. And I believe that’s true.

The magic of Christmas is just as real for me now as it was for that young, restlessly excited girl, though it’s different now. The magic I feel now comes as I listen to a Christmas hymn that transports me to that star-lit, magical night 2014 years ago that changed the world. It comes now as I sit around the twinkling, glowing Christmas tree reading Christmas stories to my children. The magic now is the sense of brotherhood I feel with complete strangers as our humanity is linked just a little more tenderly during the Christmas season. The magic now is remembering the magic of childhood Christmases past and trying to re-create that for my children.

I have noticed that the more I experience life and the older I get, the easier it is to become cynical and apathetic. But that’s why love and the Christmas spirit are real magic. They have the power to change us. When we keep that magic alive, we have charity, hope, optimism… and a lot more fun!

Adam’s sweet reminder to keep the magic made me think about the ways I can more fully do that.

What traditions do you have/things do you do to keep the magic alive in your house for Christmas?

Share your comments/ideas below! I’d love to hear them!

Love, Robin