This Christmas, my friends don't know me

"I don't know you anymore," my friend joked. I had to laugh because I'm starting to wonder if even I know me anymore. 'Tis the season for most to embrace the festivities, the lights, the snow, but not I -- until this year.

Look, I'm no Scrooge. I'm no Christmas "hatah." I enjoy seeing the decorations, the pictures of snowfalls (from afar!), the rainbow colors. I applaud the picturesque trees -- in someone else's house. But these have all found their way into my house this year, and I'm loving it. So who exactly is this person?

You've become a homeowner. It makes a difference. I think it's something to do with the desire to make memories in your OWN home," my friend Kristi said. I think she may be right.

I bought my first home this summer, so this is my first Christmas in my first home, and now, I find myself engaging in many unexpected firsts. Like I said, I'm no Scrooge. I like Christmas as much as the next person -- the next average Christmas-liker person. To be clear, I absolutely love the true meaning of Christmas -- that God so loved the world that He robed Himself in flesh and came to earth as a baby to be our Savior. That's a truth I celebrate every day, beyond the commercialized month or so people spend shopping and singing about it. I also grew up in a home where we decorated our home every year, inside and out. For some reason, though, besides maybe two times in which I gave it a whirl, I just never embraced the outward expressions of the holiday.

Fast forward to 2019 and my own home. I'm enjoying myself. I not only put up one tree in the living room; I put up another tree downstairs in the family room/Cat Quarters. I managed to make these trees look good, too -- also not like me because I don't have a decorator's bone in my body, but you wouldn't know it to look around. I went shopping again and again to buy Christmas decor and messed around with the perfect place to put it all. I even hung lights outside the house.

Now, check this out: last year, I paid Kristi to bake cookies for me to take to my church's ladies' cookie/candy swap. This year, I -- yes, I! -- made something to take. Granted, it wasn't major. It entailed pretzels, Hershey's Kisses, M&M's and an oven for six minutes. My pastor's wife sent the information to me, as we both figured even I could handle that. Last year, I would not have handled it. This year, I showed up at the party with Salty-Sweet Christmas Treats. Baby steps.

Friday, I invited a friend over, we ate dinner, I made the treats, and -- now, this is huge -- I suggested we watch a Christmas movie. I. Don't. Watch. Christmas. Movies. But I did. And I enjoyed it -- as much as anyone can enjoy the corniness that, I suppose, is synonymous with the kinds of movies people watch this time of year. Lest I be misunderstood, however, I have not turned in my "Hallmark Hatah Card." I am known for dissing and resisting Hallmark's takeover of television with what I refuse to call "Christmas movies." I call them "snow movies." And the day I watch them -- now, July or whatever months they hijack our televisions -- will be the day I've completely lost myself, house or no house. Just sayin'.

Other evidence of this new spirit coming upon me: I've planned my own little Christmas get-together for my single lady friends because I'm feeling "hosty." I'm calling it Single Ladies' Christmas Non-Slumber Slumber Party.

I am, indeed, a bit drop-jawed about all of this, but the light-hearted point I'm making is just how something so seemingly small can make such a big difference. I've always been blessed, and I've always known it. I'm just feeling especially blessed in this new home. I never really had a huge desire to own a home, and I don't need one now to be happy, but there is a certain something here that I didn't feel prior. One of the greatest blessings, I've always recognize, is to have peace within the walls of wherever you call home, and I've experienced that throughout many years in many places because the Lord's presence is with me. Here, however, I feel that peace even when I approach my home. And what a tremendous time of year to celebrate that as I also celebrate the true meaning of Christmas and the love of friends and family.

For me, maybe it's the newness of the house that has added to my joy, peace and gratefulness, causing others to joke, "I don't know you anymore." Whatever it is for you, my Christmas prayer is that you will enjoy the love of a Savior, Who truly is worth celebrating however you choose to do so.

Adrienne Ross is owner of Adrienne Ross Communications and a former Southeast Missourian editorial board member.