I'm Dreaming of a....Griswold Christmas?
It's that time of year again for marathon sessions of the old Christmas classics, "White Christmas", "It's a Wonderful Life", "A Christmas Story", "Elf" (my girlfriend's personal favorite), "Rudolph", etc., etc.......etc....amen. Black Friday is over (thank God!), and the only shopping crowd left that rivals that madhouse are the last minute shoppers (of which I'm invariably one).
My personal favorite Christmas movie is "Christmas Vacation". It's been a family tradition to watch it together every year if at all possible. It may be at the top of my "Christmas movie top 10" list because it seems like I can relate to it. Not because I get the grand prize for kilowatts purchased from AEP each season due to billions of twinkling lights adorning my house...but I can relate to Clark W. Griswold. His heart is in the right place, trying to make the holiday perfect for his family, but as each day ticks off toward "the big day", things tend to get more and more jacked up.
I have not, as yet (knock on wood or whatever the best method is for warding off the crazy stuff), adorned a hockey mask with a chainsaw to cut down a tree in my yard, fallen off the roof, had an awesome crazy rant in the living room, or burned down the Christmas tree. But it seems like it's always something. Crazy schedules, sick kids, financial shortfalls, snow storms, and all kinds of unforseen circumstances or personnel malfunctions occur. On top of that, the blended family situation seems to always make things....um....interesting. On a side note...bless our kids' hearts, they have a huge burden of having to try to be with 4 extended families somewhere in the midst of the holiday. The only redeeming thing for them from that situation is...the potential for more presents.
It seems to be way too easy to forget the reason we feel like we need to jump through so many hoops. Ok, maybe it's an artificial birthdate for the Son of Man, maybe it's a substitute for pagan holidays, maybe some of the "stuff" of Christmas gets too close to unChristian things. I'd really like to make it about Jesus. My heart is in the right place as we come around the bend into the first of December, but typically I tend to forget everything when MY plans get messed up . My goal each year is to keep my attention and focus on the reason for the madness. Maybe Clark's problem (and mine) is expecting a perfect Christmas in an imperfect world. Things are bound to go wrong, people are bound to disappoint. Shoot, I'm bound to disappoint a few folks myself!
This year I'll dedicate the "Griswold Family Christmas" to the Christ child. And if a squirrel gets loose in the house, or a cat is dumb enough to chew on a Christmas light wire and fry himself under the chair, or a cousin is emptying the...well...."chemical toilet" into the gutter in his bathrobe while smoking a cigar...I'll try not to sweat the small stuff, no matter how big it may get. Bingo!
My personal favorite Christmas movie is "Christmas Vacation". It's been a family tradition to watch it together every year if at all possible. It may be at the top of my "Christmas movie top 10" list because it seems like I can relate to it. Not because I get the grand prize for kilowatts purchased from AEP each season due to billions of twinkling lights adorning my house...but I can relate to Clark W. Griswold. His heart is in the right place, trying to make the holiday perfect for his family, but as each day ticks off toward "the big day", things tend to get more and more jacked up.
I have not, as yet (knock on wood or whatever the best method is for warding off the crazy stuff), adorned a hockey mask with a chainsaw to cut down a tree in my yard, fallen off the roof, had an awesome crazy rant in the living room, or burned down the Christmas tree. But it seems like it's always something. Crazy schedules, sick kids, financial shortfalls, snow storms, and all kinds of unforseen circumstances or personnel malfunctions occur. On top of that, the blended family situation seems to always make things....um....interesting. On a side note...bless our kids' hearts, they have a huge burden of having to try to be with 4 extended families somewhere in the midst of the holiday. The only redeeming thing for them from that situation is...the potential for more presents.
It seems to be way too easy to forget the reason we feel like we need to jump through so many hoops. Ok, maybe it's an artificial birthdate for the Son of Man, maybe it's a substitute for pagan holidays, maybe some of the "stuff" of Christmas gets too close to unChristian things. I'd really like to make it about Jesus. My heart is in the right place as we come around the bend into the first of December, but typically I tend to forget everything when MY plans get messed up . My goal each year is to keep my attention and focus on the reason for the madness. Maybe Clark's problem (and mine) is expecting a perfect Christmas in an imperfect world. Things are bound to go wrong, people are bound to disappoint. Shoot, I'm bound to disappoint a few folks myself!
This year I'll dedicate the "Griswold Family Christmas" to the Christ child. And if a squirrel gets loose in the house, or a cat is dumb enough to chew on a Christmas light wire and fry himself under the chair, or a cousin is emptying the...well...."chemical toilet" into the gutter in his bathrobe while smoking a cigar...I'll try not to sweat the small stuff, no matter how big it may get. Bingo!
Comments
Post a Comment