So How Long?

So how long do you keep your Christmas decorations up?  I know some people have already taken down the decorations.  But I honestly hate to see when the lights on the outside get taken down.  Christmas, to me, isn’t about a day, but it is all about the day’s leading up to “the day” and also after. 
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I can’t reconcile with myself to just take all the decorations down now!  I know traditionally, in the Christian calendar we take down the decorations in the church sometime right at the Epiphany of the Lord, which is just 12 days after Christmas Day. 

How sad!  It still feels like we just put up the decorations and now suddenly we have to take them down again?!  It almost feels as if we, as Christians, are saying, “OK, Jesus is born, now let's get moving!”  I like it when Christmas can last longer.  I plan on keeping the lights, and decorations up until the month of January.  Now I might take the tree down earlier, since our puppy has a habit in trying to chew on every bottom branch. 

But Christmas should be extended, well not like in the case of retail services, or holiday deals, but Christmas attitude and feeling be extended.  So, don’t just hastily and quickly take down your decorations, but let the lights shine in your house and in your neighborhood.  Here in Central PA, it gets dark around 4:30-5:00pm, which is WAY too early and also quite depressing.  Use the Christmas lights that you have in and on your house to be a symbol of “light in the darkness.”  Encourage your neighbors to keep those Christmas lights on the house just a little bit longer, because it’s just nice to see some color and brightness during this time of the year when the trees can't provide color because the leaves have been stripped off, and the daytime light is cut short. 

What do we think?  Sounds like an idea. 

More importantly, what do you think my wife will think?  She’s asked me when I’ll be taking down Christmas decorations, and I need to find a reason or excuse for keeping all the decorations around, because it’s a ton of work to do.  I wonder how long I can stretch out in convincing my wife that we can have the decorations just a little bit longer.  I think what I just wrote there above makes sense if I tell it to her like that right?

Well, everything I said above is technically all true feelings, now is that enough to convince my lovely wife to let me be a bit lazy.  Well, we will know soon enough. 

Anyways, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and I hope everyone will have a safe and fun New Year!  God bless you all!  Stay safe, stay healthy.

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