Caroling

I love Christmas songs, and I love singing them all through the holiday season. But I’m not a big fan of caroling, at least not when it’s just our family singing to others, although I do enjoy singing around the piano with just our family. We do have a large family that comes caroling to our house every year, and it’s been super fun to see them grow to a huge extended family. I love music especially Christmas music. Music has a tendency to change the mood or feel of any situation. Christmas carols, to me, feel like peace, happy, joy, comfort, love.

This time of year, I tend to play the piano more frequently for people. This year I have the opportunity to play for the Elementary school. I haven’t done that for about 3 years. I got to the point where I was needing a break, but this year I decided to go back and play. I haven’t practiced as much, but as I played, I remembered how much fun it is to listen to children sing Christmas songs. They’re also funny to watch as they try their best to stand up and sing without too much fidgeting or messing around. It adds a whole different dimension to the Christmas carols when sung in a school concert associated with the animation of the kids who really get into the songs.

I play the piano for the Primary each Sunday, and the last few weeks have been all Christmas type songs. Today the song was about the Nativity, and it was fun to watch each child pick a piece of the Nativity to sing about. Each one had a little part in the song, and they were so excited to help and sing together. They didn’t know the words very well, but the adults did pretty well filling in the blanks, and the kids loved hearing the Christmas story in song. It was a fun singing time. I also have had, and will have on Christmas day, several more opportunities to accompany adults singing or playing instruments. Each one of these gives me opportunity often to learn a new song, always practice more, which is great, and opportunity to hear the different Christmas carols in unique arrangements that give the songs added beauty.

I love going to listen to Christmas music being sung and played as well, and one of the things my girls and I have enjoyed doing is going to our communities Messiah performance. This happens most years the beginning of December, and it’s a fun opportunity to remember that Jesus is the reason for the season and the Savior of this fallen and broken world. We can look to Him for healing and help, not just at Christmas, but all year long. This Messiah concert was a little bit unique, however. They have 2 performances each year, and the first, 4 hours earlier, went on without any trouble. But the 7:00 performance was delayed. Something had happened in between the two sessions and the sound system had stopped working.

The sound technicians worked frantically trying to troubleshoot as well as set up temporary equipment so they could start. Moments after we were updated that it would take some time to get things fixed/changed, the choir started to sing a Christmas carol. The audience joined in and for the next 15 or so minutes as they set up temporary speakers and microphones, we sang together many of the timeless, beloved songs of Christmas. Those beautiful carols brought such a sweet spirit to the whole group, and if we had only done that, I would have left feeling lighter and happy that we had come. They did get things working, and the performance was inspiring as always, but the caroling is what I will remember from this year.

This season is magical, and the music is part of what makes it magical. I hope you take time to listen and even sing the songs of the season, and remember above all, that Jesus is the reason this season is so magical. This little video clip is from my Instagram page. It’s a short clip of the singing that happened before the Messiah began.