I hope that you have a truly wonderful & blessed Christmas, as we celebrate together, & remember when our Savior came to earth! Christmas is such a special time of the year. It's one of my favorite times to indulge & eat wonderful homemade foods & candies, to fellowship with friends & family, & most importantly reflect upon God's Word & His gift to us!
Jesus is the greatest story, the ultimate gift, & the hope of all who believe!
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Below are some reflections & musing thoughts I typed on the eve of Christmas Eve -
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Whewhwee! What a busy day. It's two days before Christmas, & I was out doing what nearly everyone else in our relatively "large" city of 100,000 was doing. Braving the bad roads, wind, & snow - Christmas shopping!
Over the past couple days, we've gotten around 6-9 inches of snow. It's hard to tell just how much there is, because of the gale-force winds that are ever-present & blowing the snow around, creating drifts anywhere from 1-3 feet high. Under all this snow is a layer of ice on the backroads, making it take 3x longer to get from here, to there.
Thankfully everything went well, other then getting suck in traffic & missing a few turns. Nearly ALL my shopping is done! Now to start wrapping!
I can't believe Christmas is in two days! I'm so excited. Are you? (I could literally jump up & down like Buddy the Elf did when he thought "Santa" was at Gimbels!)
I'm excited for the special time our family has on Christmas morning, reading the Bible, giving gifts to each other. I simply LOVE giving people gifts, honestly, I prolly spend too much money shopping for people. But hey, the way I see it, Christmas only comes once a year, & it's such a special time of the year - that I want to make a big deal about it!
But ultimately, I always remember the true reason behind why we give gifts to friends, family & co-workers. We give gifts because the Magi presented fine gifts of gold, frankincense & myrrh to Christ. We give gifts because God gave His only son to us! He sent Jesus down to earth, as a babe to grow in grace & eventually die on the cross for our sins. He became the Word made flesh and walked on this earth for 30something years! It's SO amazing to think about!
Over the years, as I've grown older, I've truly realized that my "Christmas list" has gotten a lot smaller, simply because there really isn't that much out there that I want, & because the things I truly want for the holidays can't be bought. It's the gift of family, friends, traditions, & the amazing love & grace that God has for us. Things that are untangle; spending time in the company of friends, sharing a silly moment together, sitting silent & watching your dearly loved family interacting around you, reading our advent devotions together, or standing by the light of the moon in the snow, watching the stars twinkling in the heavens. (<< Follow that link to the site of an AMAZING documentary that you need to order RIGHT NOW, it's only $9.75. If you haven't seen it already I encourage you - Please watch/buy it!)
It's the simple moments like those, that are the greatest kinds of gifts. When there's a warm, comforting feeling of Jesus surrounding your heart: love, joy, thankfulness & peace. I simply close my eyes & smile. Let Jesus shine through your life! It's hard to put the feeling into words…
It's the amazing feeling of God caring for us. He sees all & knows all. He's always there. God forgives, cares & loves His people. Even as a lifelong Christian, I sometimes struggle with doubts. But I always remind myself that God is always in control. As I reflect on a year nearly gone, I don't understand why things happen the way they do, or why there's so much violence & heartache in the world, or even within my own sinful heart. (Well, truthfully, I do understand why; sin is the root of all evil.) I don't have all the answers, but God does! I take such comfort in that. All that I need to do is truly trust in Him! He loves you & me so much! He has everything all planned out - everything is going to happen exactly the way he has preordained it to. Everything He has planned for you & me will bring glory to His name & bring us closer to Him.
God loves us both more then we could ever imagine - He loves us so much that he sent His son to become like us, to live & die for us. He is our light & salvation, the strength of our life, why should we be afraid? (Ps. 27:1)
Soften your heart, open it up wide & let Jesus let. Christmas it a time of forgiveness, healing & love! Let Christ shine brightly within your heart, let Him wrap His love & grace around you. Take comfort in Him. Let Him create a light in you, that shines to the world.
Through the rest of this Christmas season & throughout the coming year of 2014, I want to try to focus on the little things & precious moments, while living life day-by-day to the very fullest! I want to make big things happen. I want to focus on the grand adventure of life, focus on people, on sharing, on keeping the wonder; forever & always.
Merry Christmas & have a blessed Twenty-fourteen!
"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." ~ Isaiah 9:6
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. ~ 2 Corinthians 4:6
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ~ Romans 5:8
