David, over at Here I Stand has tagged me for a Christmas 3X3 meme. Christmas is my favorite time of the year so this will be a fun one for me. So…here I go…
What are your three favorite Christmas songs and who sings them?
This is a tough one. My wife and I have dozens of Christmas CDs that get played constantly in our home and car. Picking three is not easy but here are three that just happen to stand out right now:
(1) Silent Night when sung during the candle lighting portion of the Christmas Eve worship service. Watching the candle light slowing spread throughout the sanctuary while the lights slowly dim while singing this great Christmas carol always gives me goosebumps. Others that follow close behind are "Joy to the World" and "Go Tell it on the Mountain".
(2) "Hallelujah" by Soulful Celebration. Imagine a Southern Baptist choir going all out singing the Hallelujah Chorus. I still like the traditional Hallelujah Chorus but listening to Soulful Celebration also gives me goosebumps and makes me want to jump up and start clapping. There is a part toward the end where one might think things are winding down but just then they hit you with some more "soulful" Hallelujahs.
(3) Once again let me remind you…this is far from an exhaustive list, but number three has two "non-traditional" Christmas songs: "Breath of Heaven (Mary’s Song)" sung by Amy Grant and "A Strange way to Save the World" (told from Joseph’s perspective) sung by 4Him. Two great comentaries on the miracle of Christmas.
What are your three favorite Christmas foods?
(1) I am with Diane here with number one — LEFSE. My wife is a butter and WHITE sugar person and I am a butter and BROWN sugar one. But I will use WHITE sugar if need be.
(2) My mom’s famous candy kiss cookies. I look forward to these every year. With me trying to lose weight, I throw that weight lose thing out the window for candy kiss cookies since this is that only time of the year I get these.
(3) Lastly…this is not a Christmas food but it is my family’s Christmas Eve tradition — homemade pizza. One year my mom suggested we not do this but my sister and I threw a fit and my mom learned quickly not to mess with homemade pizza on Christmas Eve. We each make our own little pizza and this is the only time of the year I have pepperoni and sauerkraut pizza (Hmmm…I am getting hungry just thinking about it).
What are your three Christmas secrets?
This is a tough one because people who know me well know I love the Christmas season and that I do not keep that a secret. But many of you out there do not know me well so here it goes…
(1) My wife does most of my Christmas shopping for me. Maybe that is not a surprise that a wife shops for her husband, but I think it is pretty funny. I think I learned that habit from my dad.
(2) Of the 36 years I have been on this earth I can only remember one Christmas that we were not in Minnesota (Mom…correct me if I am wrong here). That one year was at grandpa and grandma’s house in Yuma, AZ. At the time Julie and I thought it was strange going swimming at an outdoor pool on Christmas Day.
(3) I love poinsettia plants. We got one early December last year and I kept it alive until this past September. And…as I am writing this, the church custodian and his wife have just given me and Connie a nice big poinsettia. Wow…they must have been reading my mind.
Well…there you have it. What a fun Christmas 3×3. Now…let me see…I think I will now tag: Pastor David at Posting from Prairie Hill and Chris at The Lutheran Zephyr. Have fun and MERRY CHRISTMAS!
-edh-
The Heart of a Pastor 
I know I wasn’t tagged as I don’t have a site, but wanted to comment on yours. My all time favorite Christmas song is “What Child is This”. I agree with you on the Christmas foods. I too am a butter and brown sugar person. Must be how we grew up. I also look forward to the pizza. For some reason, it always tastes better on Christmas Eve. Also, I think you are right about only having missed one Christmas in MN. I think we were in 2nd and 4th grade.
We put our tree up last night and all Meara could say as she helped was “Oh, my goodness”. Have a great day and we will see you on Friday.
If you ask me you could have kept that pepperoni and sauerkraut pizza a secret. lol I know…don’t knock it until you try it.
This year I am going to do some baking while the kids are at school and my wife is at work. I enjoy baking nearly as much as eating.
Great list Eric.
Julie — If I could have continued my list of songs, “What Child is this” would have been there too. As for the Christmas tree, we have yet to put ours up because of the remodeling we are doing. I think Thursday is the day. Take care and I’ll see you Friday (unfortunately Connie can’t make it).
David — The sauerkraut must come from the little German I have in me. Have fun baking.
Pepperoni and sauerkraut pizza- that’s a new one for me. In my mother-n-law’s family, which is Slovak, they fry up sausage and sauerkraut in a pan on Christmas Eve until the sauerkraut is dark brown- they love it- it is NOT on my Christmas list.
this was a great list! and I am with you on the songs! There are too many to list! and I could make separate lists of the ones I like to sing, and the favorite Christmas albums I like to hear.
p.s. I used to help my dad shop for mom, after I got older. also, we wrapped all of his presents for him. The only person he ever got presents for was mom, as far as I know.
Great list Eric. You are right about Yuma, Az. and Christmas, but Santa did find you there. Candy Kiss cookies are baking as I write; I’ll bring some with tomorrow.
Mom