Deck the halls.

On Sunday, S & I had the perfect December morning. We started off with cinnamon pancakes, turned on some Christmas music, pulled out the decorations, lit some candles, baked some molasses cookies . . . Watching the white lights twinkle on our tiny tree, I really started to get into the Christmas spirit. It's all about setting the right atmosphere, you know?

And then this happened:

S (screaming at Dave Barnes via my iPod): LIAR!
Me: What's wrong?
S: "He bought a ring?" "Home and kids someday?" I don't believe him.
Me: S, the song is about Mary and Joseph. Like, the Mary and Joseph.
S: Oh. Well, I don't care. I still don't believe him. "Love right from the start?"
Me: Love does exist, you know . . .

Because it's Christmas, I'm willing to admit that perhaps I've been a little too harsh on guys lately. Do I still think that they ought to pay for coffee on the first date? Yes. But it wouldn't hurt me to extend a little bit of the grace that I myself hope to receive. My tone lately has been a little bitter. If, instead, I put the same effort into creating a hopeful atmosphere that I put into my Christmas decorations, maybe our hearts would stay a little warmer this season.

It's always wrong until it's right. And it will eventually be right. In the meantime, enjoy:

Mary was the first of three
Long black hair and sugar sweet
Daddy's eyes and Momma's crooked smile
She was barely seventeen
Got a job keepin dishes clean
Planned to stay in this city for a while
For a while

Joseph ran a lumber yard
About a mile from Olive Park
Quiet boy, he never had much to say
It was love right from the start
He bought a ring and won Mary's heart
Had hopes for a home and kids someday
Kids someday

The angel scared her half to death
She would've screamed but she lost her breath
On a midnight there in the middle of May
He said "Oh mary don't be afraid
You'll bear a son that the Lord has made

Name him Jesus, He'll light the way."

She packed the clothes, he made the plans
They had to go to Bethlehem
But there was nowhere left to stay
So in a barn she gave birth
To the King of Kings the Lord of Earth
Just a little bitty thing sleeping on the hay
Sleeping on the hay

The story's too long to tell
But he walked on water and lived through hell
Killed on a cross and rose from the grave
We got a King they got a son
Mary and Joseph were the only ones
There on that very first Christmas day
There on that very first Christmas day