My family and I are guilty of the “Christmas Creep.” We know that Thanksgiving comes first, but as soon as we saw snow this year, we started listening to Christmas music. Bing Crosby was crooning “White Christmas” from my record player before you could say “mistletoe.”

I’m not really sure why we are in such a rush to get started with Christmas. Each year, we get ready for the holiday for weeks on end, and then, in an instant, it’s over. We have one 24-hour period of Merry-making and joy before we are on to thoughts of the new year and what we want to achieve.

While Christmas has become a full “season” for us, the actual holiday lasts such a short time. But it seems like our hearts are longing for that feeling for much longer.

So much so that we start decorating and singing Christmas carols as soon as possible.

Maybe we’re not longing for the material goods and baked goods and holly jolly music. While we as Christians know the Christmas story, it can — as silly as it sounds — get pushed to the side in lieu of the other trappings of the holiday. We forget the “reason for the season,” as they say. Perhaps we’re looking for the beautiful, miraculous truth of Christmas to dwell in our hearts and minds more fully — the love and peace of Christ that we would not have without his immaculate birth.

One of my favorite verses is the one announcing the birth of Jesus to the shepherds. “And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord,'” it reads in Luke 2:10-11. For me, this verse embodies the pure joy and hope of Christ’s birth. First, the angels appear to what I would imagine would be your everyday shepherds and deliver this miraculous news.

Then, there are the beautiful words that are used — a call to be unafraid because of the good news and a declaration that our savior has come. Maybe these are the Christmas messages we are longing for so much.

Whether you’re like me and you’re blaring the Christmas carols as soon as you see a snow flake — or if you’re one of those normal people who waits until it’s actually Christmas time — lets all remember that the real joy behind Christmas is the fact that Jesus was born so that we could one day have a personal relationship with God. His birth marked the day where what was foretold became reality and our path to be free of the weight of sin and the beginning of our everlasting hope began.

We don’t need a Christmas tree or even a particular day of the year to celebrate the Birth of Jesus which put the Gospel into motion. We can have that beautiful and overwhelming hope each and every day — even without tinsel and decorations.