Christmas Guest Series- Anna Stowe

Happy Friday! This is week three in my guest series and I hope you have enjoyed the last two posts! This week I have a post from my pen pal, Anna Stowe!

1. Tell me a little bit about yourself, hobbies, family, background, ect.

I’m a lover of God, animals, and writing. I live in Knoxville, Tennessee. My favorite thing to do is read. I’ve been reading for as long as I can remember, but recently the lense through which I read has changed. Now, I read more as a learning tool to help me grow my craft. I love to sing, however I don’t really know how, so I recently joined the youth choir at my church. I also really Honduran coffee and just about any kind of chocolate.

1. What is your favorite part about Christmas?/ How does it bring home the meaning of Christmas to you?

I don’t really know. There are a couple things I really love. I love singing Christmas songs, and I love getting people gifts. Christmas songs are special because I have so many memories of singing them with my family, all throughout the year. For instance, when I was little, my mom would sing Hark, The Herald Angels Sing every night to me, and it is still my favorite Christmas song. I also love buying presents for my family and trying to come up with little things they would like. That brings home the part of the Wise Men going way out of their way to celebrate the birth of Jesus when they didn’t have to. Also, I love how God chose to send his son into the world.

1. What are some of your family traditions?

We actually have a ton of Christmas traditions as well as some things we did last year that I hope will grow into traditions. My favorite tradition by far is on Christmas Eve. BEfore we go to bed, we get to open one present- a pair of new pajamas. Once we have changed into those, we read The Night Before Christmas and the Christmas story from Luke.

1. What is the best present you have ever gotten, who gave it to you and why did you like it so much?

I don’t really know what the best present I’ve ever gotten was. Certainly the most useful is my computer; I use it for everything. My mom and dad gave it to me a couple years ago. They also got me an Eiffel Tower sticker to go on it since I’m obsessed with all things France. I like it so much because I do all my writing on it.

1. Explain your dream Christmas.

My dream Christmas starts on Christmas Eve. To begin with, there was this tradition in Iceland where families would give each other a book on Christmas Eve. So for my dream Christmas, we give each other a book, stay up really late and go to the midnight service at my church to welcome Christmas in, then come home and do Christmas pj’s. The next morning, I would have us all open about half our presents going around in a circle. Then, we would take a break and eat Christmas pancakes before opening the rest of our presents.

1. Is Christmas your favorite holiday? Why or Why not?

Christmas is probably my favorite holiday, although I find it annoying that stores seem to skip completely over Thanksgiving. I love the seasonal Starbucks drinks, singing (really badly) with my sister, and the scent of Christmas, which to me smells like the spruce/ balsam fir scented candles.

1. Which is better: Christmas or Easter? Why?

I don’t really think either is better. For Christmas, God sends his son onto the world because we are all sinful and in need of a Savior. For Easter, Jesus dies for our sins, and takes them all on himself. I like them both equally because of something my tells me. “God would have sent his son even if you were the only person on earth.”

1. What are your hopes for this Christmas?

I hope to sing in the Christmas concert at my church, read a ton, and read my Bible more. Merry Christmas!

Hope you like this post! Keep alert for next week’s post from Helena Godfrey!