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Patricia Johns

~ Bestselling author

Patricia Johns

Tag Archives: Christmas

This Christmas is NOT a democracy. ;)

21 Sunday Dec 2014

Posted by Patricia Johns in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Christian romance, Christmas, clean romance, harlequin author, inspirational romance, love inspired author, love inspired books, wholesome romance

This year is going to be a very quiet Christmas in the Johns home. In the last five Christmases past, we’ve been busy, busy, busy. Busy is great! Family is great, and I love them all dearly. Don’t get me wrong, but…

Between you and I? I’m really looking forward to a quiet little Christmas with just my husband and son.

Quiet little Christmases don’t make for good book plotting. Big family mayhem is just more interesting to read about, but there are perks to having a quiet holiday in real life.

Here are a few:

1. You get to do what you want to do!

fh0xK4rNo, I’m joking! LOL

But when you have lots of people around, you have to be democratic. In past years, I’ve been consistently outvoted. But with just the three of us, I get to do the one thing I’ve been yearning for for the last several years–go to the Christmas Eve candlelight carol service! Because with just the three of us, there is the “But Mommy really wants this. Get dressed.”

2. Flu recovery!

This has been a vicious flu season for my family. It just lingers, and then revisits us in different forms. I blame the petri dish of the elementary school for introducing us to these germs of mass destruction, but what can you do? A quiet holiday will give us all a chance to rest up.

3. It’s just like we used to do when I was a kid.

I’m a semi-introverted person born to two introverts. That should explain that. 😉

So this year, we’re doing Christmas a little differently.

How about you? Big Christmas? Small Christmas? Unique Christmas? Whatever kind of Christmas you’re about to enjoy, I hope it’s a happy one!

From my home to yours, I wish you a very merry Christmas, and the happiest of New Years!

Christmas_Tree_1867

A Suess Christmas

10 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by Patricia Johns in Uncategorized

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Christmas, Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas

This is a copyright free picture from Wikimedia--so not my adorable children. But aren't they cute?

This is a copyright free picture from Wikimedia–so not my adorable children. But aren’t they cute?

In our house, How the Grinch Stole Christmas is one of our favorite Christmas stories. I grew up watching the animated movie every Christmas, and I still sing “You’re a bad one, Mr. Grinch” with rare enthusiasm. So when we bought the Dr. Seuss book, it filled me with warm fuzzies.

Dr. Seuss has a way of bringing out deeper thoughts in his children’s tales, and as I read the book to my son for the thousandth time, something struck me anew:

“It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It came without packages, boxes or bags!”
And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!
“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.
“Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more.”

How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

Christmas is a Christian holiday, but it’s been taken over by the secular world with ease. I suppose it makes sense. Christians celebrated the Christ Mass at the same time as Pagan Yuletide. It’s easily appropriated. Regardless, Christmas is a glorious, sparkly, light-filled holiday, celebrated with gift-buying and huge feasts. It has become more about marketing and sales power than anything else, but underneath all the glitz and tinsel, there is a truth that can’t be avoided. Christmas, whether you’re celebrating it as a Christian or as a secular holiday, has a spirit beyond the trappings, beyond the store-bought decor.

Christmas IS about a little bit more.

Other cultures have festivals of lights. I’m reminded of Divali, an Indian festival that I learned to celebrate with friends in university. Human beings, no matter where they reside or what religion or non-religion they are affiliated with, long for light–pinpricks of hope in darkness.

Where there is light there is hope. Christmas trees, yule logs, Divali lights, strings of multi-colored bulbs that ring the outside of houses, Chanukah candles… And for those of us who are Christian, we think of the birth of the Light of the World. A tiny, flickering flame that came in the form of a newborn baby, heralded by glowing angels and the light of a mysterious star.

From every culture and nation, we look towards light and we hope for more…

You can take away my ribbons, tinsel and tags, but Christmas is still about the night that God bent low and touched this planet, setting it ablaze with Hope.  Is it any wonder that we feast, feast, feast, feast? Is it any wonder we celebrate, decorate and reach out to each other like no other time in the year?

It’s not about how much money we spend. It’s about something much deeper. Christmas is a time of hope and goodwill.

Merry Christmas! May your Christmas be filled with light, love and a “rare Who roast beast.”

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Patricia Johns, Author

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