My Grown Up Christmas List

I have always been a fan of Amy Grant’s Holiday albums. We used to have them on cassette tape, then CD and now I pull them up online. One of the songs on one of her albums is, “Grown Up Christmas List.” It’s a song about being an adult, no longer being a kid and having a different type of Christmas list.

Do you remember me?
I sat upon your knee
I wrote to you
With childhood fantasies

Well, I’m all grown-up now
And still need help somehow.
I’m not a child
But my heart still can dream

So here’s my lifelong wish
My grown-up Christmas list
Not for myself
But for a world in need

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
This is my grown-up Christmas list

As children we believed
The grandest sight to see
Was something lovely
Wrapped beneath our tree
Well heaven surely knows
That packages and bows
Can never heal
A hurting human soul

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
This is my grown-up Christmas list

What is this illusion called the innocence of youth?
Maybe only in our blind belief can we ever find the truth

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, oh
This is my grown-up Christmas list
This is my only life long wish
This is my grown-up Christmas list

It’s a song that makes you stop and think. Sure, I would LOVE a new camera lens, a trip to Hawaii and some new shoes, but if I really think about it, my list looks a little different. This would be my grownup Christmas list…

As much as I would love that all war would stop and no one would ever be deployed again, I know that isn’t even close to being realistic. So I would ask for this. I would hope that those that do get sent to war are ready, that those that are war-weary would get a break and that those going through a deployment in the new year would be comforted and would have the strength to make it through.

For financial security. That we would be able to pay off our debt, that we can just have enough. Not too much, not too little. Just enough. That we both can have jobs that will be fulfilling and yet can allow us to be financially secure and provide a good life for our boys.

That someday, we can live by family again. Right now that doesn’t even seem possible. It just seems like it won’t ever happen. I just hope it does someday. Even if we have to wait a few more years.

That racism wouldn’t be an issue anymore. It hurts my heart to see people being treated badly because of their race. I know we have come a long way in the last 100 years but we sill have a long way to go.

That there would be respect for all religions. Our country is made up of so many different belief systems and they need to be respected. If we want the freedom to practice our own religion in the way we see fit, we need to allow other people to do the same.

For good friends. I feel lucky because I do have a lot of really good friends but most of them live far away, some are moving away soon and it is always nice to have a good group of girlfriends to depend on, especially in the Military community.

That we can help my son with Asperger’s be able to figure it all out. He has come SO far in the last year but there are still a lot of things to work on. I love watching him “get” things. To see that he is understanding why school is important or why you should do certain things is a great feeling. What comes naturally to most people has to be taught to him which is hard but it is great when I see it clicking and see him understanding it more and more.