To be honest I am not in the Christmas spirit this year and I’m not really sure why. It might be that Christmas snuck up on me and I wasn’t ready for it. But I feel like I’ve got a Scrooge attitude this year.

After thinking about this, I think I know what it is! It’s because it’s a brown Christmas! We have no snow on the ground and it’s not cold! That’s it! That’s why it doesn’t feel like Christmas to me. This is exactly why I blog it’s kind of therapeutic for me. Now I feel better that I can blame it on something and it’s mother nature! Mother nature has put me in a depression.

As I was starting to write this blog I was going to write about feeling depressed this past month and not sure why. I wanted to be open and honest talking about depression. If you know me well, I am an extravert! I love being around people, I love to talk, I enjoy going places and doing things and being active. I don’t often feel depressed, but this past month I have struggled with not feeling in the Christmas spirit. I wasn’t in the mood to partake in any Christmas activities like I usually do.

But everything changed when I was writing this blog. I paused my writing and got up and walked to the window to see what the weather was doing. As I was looking out the window I said out loud to my wife “it doesn’t seem like Christmas without snow on the ground, we need some snow”! And bingo! It hit me that if we had snow and some really cold weather I’d probably not feel like this. I feel better now. I figured it out by writing this blog. That’s a good thing because now I don’t need to go see a therapist.

In my morning quiet time with the Lord I prayed about this feeling of depression I was having during what should be a festive time. I don’t get depressed, so this is new to me and I didn’t know how to handle it.

But the Lord answered my prayers in his timing. Being with family on Christmas Eve really helped lift my spirits. Christmas Eve we went to my son’s home in Montevideo and we had a really great time with family. We played games and the grandkids read the Christmas story. We opened presents and I felt joy as I watched my grandkids faces when they opened a present. Brandon and Katie made an awesome dinner for everyone. It was just what I needed some good old fashioned family time.

Then waking up Christmas morning having my coffee and writing my blog discovering for the most part that mother nature was at fault for me not being in the Christmas spirit this year. I can’t wait when the first major snowfall comes because I’ll be like a little kid at Christmas then. Merry Christmas everyone!