My youngest son is 14 going on 4 this Christmas. He is excited for every element. I on the other hand have had a bit of a hard time getting into the mood of the season. Now that there is a beautiful white blanket of snow on the ground, I'm starting to feel it's magic.
I was getting pretty irritated at this child's constant questions of when we would be doing our traditional cookie decorating, Christmas light looking, and gift shopping. He had such an urgency to get the show on the road, while I was just trying to keep up with getting more food in the house. (We always have food, but the perception of the two teens that live here is that there is often no food in the house.) The driving force in his life was getting Christmas going full steam, and I was just trying to get some steam.
My real irritation was the fact that he was pushing me. I don't like to be pushed. But then it dawned on me that what he was really communicating was his excitement and this excitement was of great necessity to him. It has been a rough few months for this child. He has had a lot of illness, not just the stomach flu, but the kind of thing that sends you to the ER, the urgent care, and knocks you off your feet and into bed for long periods of time. This Christmas is important. This Christmas is bringing life to him.
Once this reality set into my brain, the gears switched. I bought a little something that wasn't on his well organized wish list, wrapped it and put it under the tree. This surprise was nourishment to his soul. I baked up a ton of Christmas cookies last night. In a few hours we will be enjoying the sugary tradition of decorating these cookies. He needed the life and hope of Christmas.
And really, that is what Christmas is all about, life and hope. There is also a necessity and urgency that comes with the true meaning of Christmas. We need a Savior. All of us just fall short of God's glory, his holiness. He demands holiness to be in his presence. We really are hopeless on our own. It was totally necessary for Jesus to come to earth and take on a earthly body, so that he could die in our place for the sins we commit. Why death? Our sins desirve the death penalty and he took it in our place. The bible tells us that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness for sin. Jesus shed blood paid the penalty for the sin of mankind. This gives us life and hope. When we believe that Christ did this for us, and turn away from our sin to live to the glory of God, we have true life and the hope of being with him for eternity.
Christmas is about sacrifice. I'm feeling that this Christmas. Because of the need of someone else, I needed to sacrifice my time in order to make this time special for my kiddo. Because of our need to be rescued from the sin that separates us from God, Jesus sacrificed his life for us. Christmas is necessary. Christmas is urgent (we are in grave danger without Jesus). Christmas is life. Christmas is hope. Christmas is sacrifice. And truly Christmas is all about Love!
May your Christmas be filled with joy as you share in all these things and may you experience the love of you family and the Love of Christ this season of celebrating his birth.
I was getting pretty irritated at this child's constant questions of when we would be doing our traditional cookie decorating, Christmas light looking, and gift shopping. He had such an urgency to get the show on the road, while I was just trying to keep up with getting more food in the house. (We always have food, but the perception of the two teens that live here is that there is often no food in the house.) The driving force in his life was getting Christmas going full steam, and I was just trying to get some steam.
My real irritation was the fact that he was pushing me. I don't like to be pushed. But then it dawned on me that what he was really communicating was his excitement and this excitement was of great necessity to him. It has been a rough few months for this child. He has had a lot of illness, not just the stomach flu, but the kind of thing that sends you to the ER, the urgent care, and knocks you off your feet and into bed for long periods of time. This Christmas is important. This Christmas is bringing life to him.
Once this reality set into my brain, the gears switched. I bought a little something that wasn't on his well organized wish list, wrapped it and put it under the tree. This surprise was nourishment to his soul. I baked up a ton of Christmas cookies last night. In a few hours we will be enjoying the sugary tradition of decorating these cookies. He needed the life and hope of Christmas.
And really, that is what Christmas is all about, life and hope. There is also a necessity and urgency that comes with the true meaning of Christmas. We need a Savior. All of us just fall short of God's glory, his holiness. He demands holiness to be in his presence. We really are hopeless on our own. It was totally necessary for Jesus to come to earth and take on a earthly body, so that he could die in our place for the sins we commit. Why death? Our sins desirve the death penalty and he took it in our place. The bible tells us that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness for sin. Jesus shed blood paid the penalty for the sin of mankind. This gives us life and hope. When we believe that Christ did this for us, and turn away from our sin to live to the glory of God, we have true life and the hope of being with him for eternity.
Christmas is about sacrifice. I'm feeling that this Christmas. Because of the need of someone else, I needed to sacrifice my time in order to make this time special for my kiddo. Because of our need to be rescued from the sin that separates us from God, Jesus sacrificed his life for us. Christmas is necessary. Christmas is urgent (we are in grave danger without Jesus). Christmas is life. Christmas is hope. Christmas is sacrifice. And truly Christmas is all about Love!
May your Christmas be filled with joy as you share in all these things and may you experience the love of you family and the Love of Christ this season of celebrating his birth.
RSS Feed
