Grown Up Christmas

It's Christmas Eve!!! Another year is almost over - how has it gone so fast?! 

Christmas is a huge deal in my house. My mum decorates every room of the house to look like Santa's Grotto - no, I am not kidding! Those of you who know my mum will understand the pain we go through. ;) 

As a child I remember being so excited for Christmas! I would get so giddy just like any child in a Christmas movie. The whole idea of waking up to snow (which never happened because we never had snow on Christmas morning!), seeing the Christmas tree with presents surrounding it, having all the family around the table for Christmas dinner and just genuinely having a whale of a time. As I have gotten older, I still get excited. But I guess, as I have to (at least try to) act like a grown up, my excitement is a little bit more reserved. I still love opening presents, but I love to see the look on the faces of my friends and family when they open the presents I got for them - it's mostly shock at my horrific wrapping skills .... which reminds me, I really need to get wrapping! But there is a lot of commercialism involved with Christmas, and it gets even more commercial with each year that passes. The true meaning is being lost in more places and fighting it out to get the perfect gift causes more arguments than it should. So, as a family, we take time to remember Jesus being born (every childhood video of Christmas morning shows my brother, sister and I saying 'happy birthday' to Jesus) and celebrate the beauty of this and hope we have because of it. Jesus is the reason for the season y'all! Can you tell I have listened to a lot of country music already today?

To encourage getting excited for Christmas, you have to put on those Christmas songs! There is a mountain of Christmas songs that I listen to at this time of year. Michael. Buble. You know what I am talking about! His Christmas album is completely on fleek (as my sister would say). I also have a lot of country versions of different Christmas songs that are on repeat. The classics of Bing Crosby, Point of Grace and Steven Curtis Chapman are played too. All of these remind me of when my family and I celebrated Christmas as a child and some have been added to the playlist since. 

However, one has been played quite a lot this year in particular. Amy Grant's 'My Grown Up Christmas List' (or Kelly Clarkson's depending on whose I feel like listening to). This year it rings particularly true with all that has panned out across the world. We live in beautiful world, but at the moment, we frequently see it's darkness. The media has shone a huge spotlight on events in Syria and Paris, but there are countless other events that we do not see on the news. There is so much hurt and violence happening on a daily basis, yet we don't always hear about it, often because the latest celebrity scandal is deemed more newsworthy or because politics has brushed it under the carpet. 

Listening to the song, I think about how Christmas was for me as a child, and how I see it now. I still get a kick out of seeing the Christmas tree, giving and receiving presents and getting to spend time with family and friends. But, I realise that this is not everyone's reality at Christmas. Not just those in foreign countries, crippled by war or poverty, but those in my own country. 

Additionally, there will be many people celebrating Christmas without some of their loved ones. This sucks. When Christmas is built up to be 'family time' and family or friends are no longer around, it can be really difficult to enjoy this time of year. It's often lonely. It's often sad. It's sometimes bittersweet. I have so many family memories of Christmas that include my dad, and I wish he was still around to celebrate it with us. But just because we have the people around us that we love, doesn't mean everyone else does too.

So this Christmas (no, don't start singing Wham!), I encourage you to count your blessings. Cherish all that you have and be grateful for it. But take time to remember those who are not as fortunate as you. And if you are in the position where you can, do something to make someone else's Christmas special, whether it be taking some gingerbread men to your grumpy neighbour, giving money to a worthy charity or just phoning the relatives you don't speak to often enough to wish them a merry Christmas. 

I hope you have the most wonderful Christmas, spent with the ones you love! 

Erin x

(I have been informed that the hair WAS fashionable at the time ..... ;) jokes - I always wanted curly hair!)

(Please feel free to comment on the blog and if there is anyone reading these posts that would like to email me to share their stories or experiences, then please do - thereislifeoutthere123@gmail.com - I would love to hear from you!) 

Don't Let Life Slip On By

This song is one of my favourites! :) It has been playing a lot recently.

I have mentioned in previous posts about how I use music to decompress and relax after a long day. Pretty sure most of us do. Just sticking in the headphones allows us to zone out and escape reality for a little while! It can be beautiful - especially when you listen to great music! ;)

Anyway, the lyrics of this particular song stress the importance and necessity of living and not letting life just slip right past you. Part of the second verse goes as follows: "It ain't easy always looking back, but it seems these days that it's all I have. What hurt me the most is knowing what could have been." I feel that I can really relate to this!! I don't want to get older and suddenly look back over life and wish I had done more! I want to live a life I am proud of. "I want to leave a legacy. How will they remember me? Did I choose to love? Did I point to You enough?" (Legacy by Natalie Nordeman).

It's easy to get lost in our daily lives. Be it with school, work, family or whatever else, but sometimes we overlook the beauty that is in our lives! For example, I have been pretty swamped with assignments and uni work these past couple of weeks. But, my sister still comes in from school and talks non-stop for a good hour!! And often this frustrates me because I am busy trying to get work done. But by doing this, I miss hearing about what she has learnt at school, the fact she needs to pick her GCSE options and discuss the subjects she could choose (I don't even know how she got this old!), or even who fell of their chair and had the whole class laughing! This song is a reminder that whatever I am doing, I need to make room for what is important in life - my family and friends!

Despite what I have been through, and I guess because of what I have been through, I want to have an impact and leave a legacy. I want my life to be more than just about me - I want it to help and inspire others, which is a main reason why I started this blog. There is life out there, and I don't want to let my life just slip through my fingers and wake up and realise I could have done more - I could have lived more!

Erin x

(thereislifeoutthere123@gmail.com)

My Mum is Pretty Cool!

Last week my mum was interviewed on Premier Christian radio. Yep! You did read that right. Yes - I am talking about my mum (oh so sappy!) and yes - she was on the radio.

Not going to lie, I was pretty excited to get to go with her. She let me play the tambourine! Let me just say that my tambourine skills are astonishing and my playing was stellar - I am expecting a grammy to arrive at my house any day now!

Anyway, joking aside, I am very proud of my mum. Life hasn't been too friendly with her. But she never ceases to amaze me with the strength that she has.

When she was younger, or "back in the day" as my brother and I like to say, she was a young girl with a guitar, heavily influenced by Amy Grant much to my brother's dismay. She was one of Amy Grant's biggest fans with a perm to prove her unwavering dedication!! Not only was she a fan of music, but she even began writing her own music and playing a bunch of instruments. We recently counted how many she now plays, which turns out to be around 7.

Skipping ahead a few years, she married and had 3 children - who are quite wonderful might I add - and this resulted in the three of us learning our own instruments and becoming interested in songwriting. Flash forward a few more years and she has recorded a new album. Your Heart Beating (http://www.katieclaguemusic.com). My mum graciously allowed us to be featured on the album in some way, shape or form. My brother played guitar, I played my violin, and my sister took the album photos.

The brother and his mad skills!

When she was asked to play some of her songs live she asked my brother, uncle and I to join her for the interview. Cue 'Family Von Clague'. Obviously my brother played guitar and my uncle played the cajon. Originally, I was just supposed to be tagging along until my mum came across my tambourine skills - but we already went through that! Playing my own music live would probably completely freak me out. But my mum was calm and collected about the whole thing!

You see, she always knew that music was something that God had gifted her with to share with others - and she does this so well! She has always encouraged us with our dreams (at least the realistic ones - I used to come home from my grandparents having watched Spacecamp only to lay my chair flat on the floor pretending that I was an astronaut! Stupid NASA for stopping the space shuttle program! - Clearly not exactly the most realistic). She encourages us to strive for what is best. She inspires me to work hard and give everything I can.

She is brave and courageous. She has had to deal with issues and situations that you wouldn't wish on anyone. But she is here. She is still living. And by carrying on and continuing to write, play and record music to encourage others, she encourages and inspires me!

Erin x

Mother hen and I.