The Twelve Days BEFORE Christmas

If you get pulled into any trivia games over the Christmas holidays, here are some little-known facts about The 12 Days of Christmas that may win you some points:

• The carol is over 200 years old. The lyrics first appeared in a children’s book dating back to 1780
• The music was added in 1909 by English composer Frederic Austin
• If you count the items each time they’re mentioned, your true love gave you a total of 364 gifts
• If you tally the cost of those items for this year, your true love spent $170,609.46

Sometimes the Christmas season can feel like a series of events that, like the song, repeat themselves ad nauseum. We love the individual parts: children’s programs, concerts, parties, decorations and gift-giving. But when they all happen in the same month, they can feel a bit overwhelming. Tomorrow starts the 12 days before Christmas. Each day I will blog about a bit of the Christmas story and provide a simple action item. It’s not meant to give you more to do, but to be a simple reminder for each of us not to lose sight of the real meaning of Christmas as the day approaches. So, here’s to the 12 days before Christmas.

Phil Moser is the author of the Biblical Strategies series, and the developer of 4M Training: a unique approach to spiritual growth for men. All of his resources can be found on amazon or at biblicalstrategies.com.