Little Brother's First Carol

Do you remember the first time you went carolling?  I do. When I was around 10 years old our church went to various homes in our community and sang the classic carols.  I remember bundling up against the cold and piling into one of the designated carolling cars and heading out to our destinations with much excitement. Once we arrived at the first house, we piled out of the cars, lit our candles and started singing.  But, in all the excitement
of this adventure I had forgotten that I didn't know most of the songs they were going to sing.  Oh, I knew most of 'Silent Night' and could belt out the first stanza of "Joy to the World" but then we began to sing songs like "The First Noel" , "Angles We had Heard on High", "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" and the beautiful "Oh Holy Night". The First Noel..what is a Noel? Angels We Have Heard On High...on what high and how high? It Came Upon a Midnight Clear?  Midnight, I'm not allowed to stay up past 9PM. And, Oh Holy Night?  Is that what the stars are? A whole in the night?  Needless to say, like any kid who doesn't know the words or have a clue what the song is about, I ad-libbed. 

As the years went by I memorized the songs and realized their meaning.  Carolling became less about an adventure and more about blessing others.

I created this Aly's Room original pattern a few years ago while reflecting upon the first time I went carolling.  I aptly named this creation "Little Brother's First Carol.

Merry Christ-mas