Merry Musical Christmas for the Sandwich Generation

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One of my favorite parts of Christmas is the music. I grew up with the Christmas specials by Bing Crosby, the King Family, Lawrence Welk, Andy Williams, Dean Martin, and so many other wonderful artists. Today I have a huge collection of Christmas music on CDs. Most is packed away in storage, but thanks to iTunes I have several hours of  the songs stored on my computer. I usually add one – two new CDs each year, along with giving Christmas praise and worship music CDs as gifts.

This year I bought with the grandtween in mind, ending up with Santa Claus by Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana), and Joyful Kings by the Jonas Brothers. Last year my focus was more towards my senior mom's taste with In The Swing of Christmas by Barry Manilow along with The Ray Price Christmas Album.

Two of my favorite holiday only songs are The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Kathy Griffith and Two Step Round the Christmas Tree by Suzy Boguss. You should hear my friend and I sing together on the chorus for that one! 🙂

As fun as all these songs are, they don't come close to the joy I feel when listening to Christmas praise and worship songs like Mercy Me's Gloria, Third Day's Joy to the World, and Michael W. Smith's Christ the Messiah. I listen to those and God gives me a brief respite in the midst of Sandwich Generation senior home care giving and grandparenting. It's like a tiny taste of what the shepherds experience! Listening to Christmas praise and worship is a wonderful way to bring the joy and peace Christmas should entail into the real world where the peace is so often missing.

Sing the glory of His name; Make His praise glorious! Psalm 66:2

Let all who take refuge in You be glad, Let them ever sing for joy; And may You shelter them, That those who love Your name may exult in You.  Psalm 5:11

Another way we enjoy the sounds of Christmas joy during Advent are by attending Christmas musicals at local churches. This year our new church is offering a contemporary Christian praise and worship night for tweens, teens, and young adults, a kids''' musical two of my grandchildren are taking me to, and a choir presentation of old and new Christmas carols and hymns. You can find times and dates for many of these at the church's website or in the local newspapers.

This is one of the best weeks to enjoy the Sounds of Christmas and it's a delightful way for all the generations to celebrate together. And for those of you who can't get out, or who have senior parents who can't go out, here's a special Christmas praise and worship just for you  – Casting Crowns singing Joy to The World. . You'll be happy to know that Amazon is giving away mp3 downloads of many Christmas songs, including some Christmas praise and worship!  That's definitely one of my favorite holiday ways to save money!  🙂 (Be sure to pop in on Christmas Day, too, for another one!  Merry Christmas!)  🙂  🙂  🙂