Christmas Time is Here

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! This is actually my first post of fall 2021, but it's closer to winter now. Today, I'm playing a song called "Christmas Time is Here," which was composed by the jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi for "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Maybe you've been waiting for Christmas just as much as you've been waiting for a Tea with Liya post. Sometimes, we see the value in waiting when the event we've been hoping for finally arrives. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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It looks like the middle of winter is almost here. Sure, September was a change for a lot of us. We might have noticed, after the summer, that there was a lot less time for playing games and reading books and writing Tea with Liya posts and visiting friends. Even though there's still less time, we have gotten a chance to do some of those things since then. Now, I'm thinking about the fact that it's getting colder, darker, and less comfortable to go outside.

Do you feel like Christmas is here yet? Somehow, pumpkins were everywhere just a few weeks ago, quickly followed by the Black Friday sales (some of which lasted until December). You might feel like we're rushing into another holiday and there isn't enough time.

Is there a tree, or are there just stars in the shape of a tree? Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

But perhaps it's better to be grateful that we have something to celebrate in the middle of winter. Maybe without any holidays, there would be nothing but the slow progression of days getting colder and darker. What would you do with all the extra vacation time at the end of the year?

If Christmas didn't exist, people might even come up with something else to put in its place. It's not only something to add to a cold and dark season, but it's also something to look forward to - and that means waiting.

As I heard at my church recently (and as we all know from experience), most people are not very good at waiting. We see it as an inconvenience to be avoided at all costs instead of an opportunity. We ask ourselves questions like, "Is it worth the wait?" No point waiting unless it's for something valuable.

But if you're really waiting for something valuable, could waiting be a good thing? It gives you time to prepare yourself for what's coming, and you'll be left with something to hope for. You might even think of it as more valuable because you waited for it.

Now, instead of grumpily waiting for the cold and darkness to be over, you can look forward to a celebration. In fact, it's a celebration that seems to have already started, because Christmas time isn't just coming - it's here.

Keep filling your teacup with music!
~Liya