TIS THE SEASON!

This is the time of year that children of all ages love. The Christmas season has always been my favorite time of year! When I was young, I could hardly wait for Christmas day when my brothers and I got to see what Santa left. As I got older, I looked forward to “decking the halls” with shiny red, green and silver and then the Christmas Eve and Christmas dinners at various relatives’ houses! I have many fond memories of all of the Christmases past and I’m sure you do too. Christmas is about all of these things and the family traditions should be kept and looked forward to, but before we get so busy with everything Christmas, maybe we should slow down, take a look around and reflect on what Christmas is really all about.

The glitter, the glitz, the gifts are not what Christmas is about. The world has made it about these things. Christmas is about the gift that God gave to the whole world, the gift to us is His Son, Jesus Christ! We must put Jesus back in Christmas and realize that without Him, we wouldn’t even be here to celebrate the Yule Tide season. “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” John 1:3

This is the time of year that we allow ourselves to get stressed out over the unimportant things. As you get ready for the Christmas rush, ask yourself, just how important is running here and there and exhausting yourself? Look at your Christmas “To Do” list and see what is not so important that you can’t mark it off your list in order to free up your valuable time so that you can do the things that really matter. Do your decorations have to be perfect? So what, if your child (or grandchild) puts all the decorations on one branch...it’s the time you spend together that counts. Instead of going further in debt, can you forgo a present or two and just enjoy a visit and a cup of coffee with the intended recipient? Isn’t it more important to spend time with your family and friends, then running from store to store to pick out gifts that have no meaning...gifts that will probably be exchanged or even thrown in a drawer and forgotten about? Isn’t it more important to take the time to do something for someone in need and isn’t it more prudent to teach your children that gifts are not as important as the person?

This year, I still plan to enjoy the decorations in my house. I plan to enjoy the excitement of the little children as they look forward to their visit from Santa and I plan to enjoy all of the traditions that go along with the holiday celebrations. This year, I have made the decision to have a less stressful Christmas! I have been convicted to put the “worldly” things in their place and consciously give more of my time and attention to the true meaning of Christmas. The true meaning of Christmas is celebrating and sharing with others the wonderful gift that God has given us, the gift of Jesus Christ!

“An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:9-11

All verses from the New International Version
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