Christmas Thoughts

Wow December just flew by. I am shocked at how quickly this year has come and gone.
These last two weeks have been full of business, full of fun as well as some not so fun. We have done the shopping checked the list twice and wrapped all the gifts. We have baked Christmas goodies. We have found our Christmas dresses, and we are ready for the big day. Our MOPS group has this devotional thing that we do once a week and one of the weeks have really stuck with me. I'm going to repost it below. This devotion really got me thinking about the hustle and the bustle of the holiday season and all it has turned into. Compared to what it was meant to be. I am actively working to find more quite moments, to celebrate Christs birth, and share in this season being more present instead of worrying so much about the presents!

"Inviting Jesus to His Birthday Celebration (Author: Sharon Jaynes)

Today’s Truth
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
Luke 2:19

Every year, I search for Christmas poems, stories, and traditions that stir my soul and keep my focus on Jesus. Perhaps none has tugged on my heartstrings like the treasure I am sharing with you today. It is a letter that could have been written by Mary. Join me now and let’s peek over Joseph’s shoulder as he reads this letter from his beloved.

I had a dream Joseph. And I don’t understand it not really. But think it was about a birthday celebration for our Son. Well I think that’s what it was about. People had been preparing for about six weeks. They had decorated their house, bought new clothes, gone shopping many times, and bought elaborate gifts. But it was peculiar though because you see, the gifts weren’t for our Son. They wrapped them in beautiful paper and tied them with lovely bows and stacked them under a tree. Yes! A tree, Joseph, right in their house. They decorated a tree.

The branches were full of glowing balls and sparkling ornaments. And there was a figure on top of the tree that looked something like what an angel might look like. Oh, it was so beautiful. Everyone was laughing and happy and all excited about the gifts. They gave gifts to each other, Joseph, not to our Son. I don’t even think they knew Him. They never mentioned His name. Doesn’t it seem odd for people to go to all that trouble to celebrate somebody’s birthday when they don’t even know Him. I had the strangest feeling that if our Son had gone to this celebration, He would have been intruding.

Everything was beautiful, Joseph. Everyone was full of cheer. But it made me want to cry. How sad for Jesus, not to be wanted at His own birthday celebration. I’m glad that it was only a dream. What if it would have been true?

What if it had been true? This story pierced my heart because in my home growing up, it was true. My childhood was a cauldron of violent arguments, alcohol inflamed fights, and long passages of passive aggressive silence. My parents were a mess, and their children were even messier.

Amazingly, the tensions ratcheted up a notch at Christmas. Dad’s business associates gave him liquor in ornate bottles—alcohol that fueled his volatile anger. My mom went into a stressful frenzy to have a perfectly decorated home with mounds of gifts under the tree. I dreaded December…every year.

On Christmas morning, I tore into elegantly wrapped presents. Right now, I can’t even recall what five of them were.

What I really wanted was a little bit of that “Peace on Earth” we sang about in church. I longed for Emmanuel to bring some of that “Silent Night” into my chaotic life. I longed for a mommy and daddy who loved each other. What I didn’t care about was more stuff.

And then I had a child of my own. I held that squirmy bundle of love in my arms and made a commitment to keep Jesus the center of our home. That decision included keeping Christmas from becoming a stress-filled retail event, and making sure it was a love-filled Christ-centered celebration.

This year, let’s make sure to invite the honored Guest to His birthday celebration. Set Him a place at the table. Read about His birth on Christmas morning. Wrap Him a gift and place it under the tree. (In our home we write what we’re giving Jesus on slips of paper, wrap it up in a little box, and place it by the nativity. It could be a commitment to pray more, love better, forgive quicker.)

Let’s Pray:
Precious Jesus, forgive me for getting caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and forgetting why I’m doing this in the first place. Help me to rein in the retail frenzy and keep You the focus of the holiday season. I can’t wait to honor You in my home this Christmas Day.
In Your name I pray, Amen."

In our home we are trying to keep Jesus at the middle of our Christmas celebration. We try to remember the story of his birth and think about the ways that his coming effects our everyday.
How Christs birth changes everything. How by his coming every single one of us has value, has worth. Is loved beyond measure. regardless of our background what we have been through, or where we come from. We are loved, and we are wanted. His coming fulfills prophecy from the old testament it proves that his birth was not a hoax. His Birth means that I can walk with confidence against the unseen enemy. That I can have peace in knowing that God has a plan for my life regardless of the bad things that happen. His birth means that there is a place for me in heaven, it means that my name is in the book of life. It means that Jesus loved me enough to leave his thrown be born of a virgin, live and die for me.
Sometimes I wonder if I have worth. Sometimes I think that no one could really like me, that it is all just a big lie. I feel sad and unsure. When I feel this way it helps to remember that unlike any human on earth Jesus loved me, and loves more thoroughly than anyone ever could.

This Christmas we are keeping some old traditions and starting some new ones. We have done our advent calendar filled with a piece of paper on one side is a prophecy about Jesus' coming, and on the other is a new testament verse showing how Jesus fulfilled that prophecy. We  read Christmas stories and play with our little people nativity scene. This year we are also starting out Christmas morning by singing happy birthday to Jesus over cinnamon rolls. Then we will fill a box with the different gifts we want to give Jesus this  year.
I hope that you and yours have a great Christmas. and that you are able to find some ways to keep Christ at the center of all the hustle bustle!