Just a bit on Christmas

I've written before about Christmas.
About songs that annoy me and some present mishaps.
But past all the tinsel that's actually pretty easy to clean up, there's something else.
Why do we buy gifts for people?
To prove we love them?
Because it's socially demanded?
In hopes that they bought you something at least as cool / useful / expensive as you bought them?
Or because we really want to give them a gift as God gave us a gift on Christmas?

There are people who are having skinny Christmases this year.
There are people giving gifts of meals, partial tuition, car repairs, and new clothes for work or school this year.
There are people who literally have nothing to give to the ones who mean the most to them.
But we can all give something.
This thing isn't material.
It costs you nothing, so it fits any budget.
And it won't be forgotten by New Year's Day.

Give the gift God gave us.

Give the gift of sacrificial love.
(And I'm not just preaching at you, I'm talking about me, too.)

Love the people who love you.
Love the people who annoy you to death.
Love the people who make your life more difficult.
Love the people who are a bit prickly.
Love the people close to you, because you see them every day.
Love the people you'll probably only see once, because it means more than you might know.
Love the people who think they are unlovable.

We certainly were.

"While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Romans 5:8b

Subjects of Songs

I just gotta say . . . I feel really sorry for the people other people write songs about.

Like, basically for pretty much every guy Taylor Swift or Adele has ever dated or crushed on.

Take "Teardrops on my Guitar", for example.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love that song. It's part of the reason I respect Taylor: it's not a catty song about her liking a guy and trying to steal him. It's about her liking a guy and wanting him to be treated right and loved, even if it's not her being loved back. If fact, she tries her best not to interfere.

I really respect that.

But I hope she went by the whole "the names have been changed to protect the innocent" thing, because if she really liked some guy named Drew . . . somebody really felt awful when that was released.

Or say, Christina Perri's "Jar of Hearts".

I love that song, too. Actually, it seems like I've been living some of the songs from "Lovestrong" lately, but that's slightly irrelevant. 

If you watch the music video, it's heartbreaking, but beautiful in a bitter, sad sort of way.

It's like she hates him for what he did to her . . . but knows he's going to end up hurt in the end, too.

That guy must feel pretty bad too.

I guess I just feel like I'd have to walk on eggshells around my friend if they were a songwriter - I wouldn't want to end up the butt of a song.

Though, in a way, I guess it's sort of a nod: they meant enough to them that they wrote a song about them.

Anyway, it's just interesting.

And sad.

And sweet, sometimes.