12 Days of Christmas: Wives of Faith

Frank Sinatra\’s I\’ll Be Home for Christmas

The first installment of the 12 Days of Christmas is My Favorite Christmas Song.  For someone who began listening to Christmas music on July 5th each year, there really aren’t that many Christmas Songs that I don’t like.  I’ve since limited my Christmas music to the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years, with the occasional song thrown in for good measure.

I don’t remember what my favorite song was as a child, but as I grew into adolescence it became Amy Grant’s My Grown Up Christmas List.  There was something wonderful about the song, yearning for a better world, a peaceful gift, things that someone who grew up too quickly could relate to.  Lyrics don’t come better than:

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end

I still feel connected to the song, although my favorite song has since changed.

Military families spend so many days and years apart that often times, we find ourselves separated from our loved ones during Christmas.  As I’ve grown older, my favorite Christmas song has become Frank Sinatra’s I’ll Be Home for Christmas. Frank sings the song with the grace a man only from his era can do (but can I give a shout to Michael Buble and Josh Grobin!?!?).  I love the Rat Pack, finding comfort in their voices.  It’s who I grew up with, the ballads instantly draw me home.

Shortly after The Husband and I married, he began my growing collection of Rat Pack, Frankie, Dino and  Sammy, the men who actually used their voices to sing not yell words with a background of music which is so popular today.  The collection started as a way to take me home to Kansas City even though we were over a thousand miles away.  There is something about the Rat Pack that will always make my heart warm with thoughts of my mom and Uncle Brent.

I’ll never forget walking through World Market a few years ago when I’ll Be Home for Christmas came through the speakers.  My eyes instantly flooded with tears for all the men and women who would be separated from their loved ones as they served our great country.  I, of course, had a lonely Christmas.  This song was a comfort to me during those times, I knew The Husband would be home for Christmas… and I also knew that it would only be in our dreams.

Amy Grant\’s Grown Up Christmas List

Go check out what the other wives are saying over on Wives of Faith.