I love Christmas. I love the emphasis on the birth of our Savior. I love Christmas carols, Black Friday sales, parties, getting cards, decorating, pretty much the whole deal. I love the beauty of the season. I love that it never gets old. Every single year we enter this time with excitement and awe as we prepare to celebrate the birthday of our King. I love the rush. Shopping until the very last minute. Even going to the mall just to watch all those other crazy people rush around. That is good stuff. However, this year was unique.
I still loved every single second, but my experience was so very different this year. Satan tried really hard to rain on our parade and to mess up our plans in the form of pesky little sicknesses. From the beginning of December up until several days before Christmas, we battled a stomach virus, pink eye, the flu, strep throat, and some nasty colds. Out of the five of those, I had 3 of them. There were several days that I did not even get out of bed. Seriously, my husband, my daddy and my in-laws rock. They did everything. Now, I am very aware that even in the midst of all that- we are blessed folks and I am so incredibly thankful for our health! I am also grateful for the lessons I learned this year.
Since I spent most of December quarantined in our house I missed out on
And you know what? This year was not busy. I did not rush. But I loved it! I have always known that the true meaning of Christmas was found in a manger, not a store. However, it is so very easy to become enamored with the other things that accompany this time of year. Though they are good, well meaning things -they pull our focus away from the heart of Christmas. The spirit of Jesus can get lost in our busy schedules, in the excitement of gifts, and rush of all things seasonal.
But I found it this year. The true Christmas spirit. It is in my 4 year old who memorized Isaiah 9:6 to surprise and recite for his daddy on Christmas morning. (There little brains are like sponges. That kid knew it after a week of practicing and shared it with daddy long before Christmas!) It is in my 2 year singing "Away in a Manger" completely unprompted. It is all 5 of us cuddled on the couch fighting over one blanket (like there are not 92 more spread through out our house.) It's watching the "Grinch" and singing along.
"Because maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store, perhaps maybe Christmas is a little bit more."
It's glancing across the room, above the chaos of toys, laughter, and kids, to meet Kevin's eye. Knowing, he too, feels what words do not have to say. The love, the warmth, the Jesus. Right here in this place.
My friends, Mr. Grinch was so right. It is so, so, so much more than anything bought at a store.
"For unto us a child is born,
a son is given:
the government will rest on His shoulders.
And He will be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6
No comments:
Post a Comment