Merry Christmas...

 What is Christmas really about? 

Of course, we know that it’s not really about the presents, Santa Claus, the Christmas tree, or even family & traditions. Don’t get me wrong, those things are amazing & definitely have their place. They warm our hearts & create beautiful feelings of nostalgia, happiness & love as we celebrate together. We draw on cheerful memories from our pasts & bask in the comfort that they bring us. 

But this year many of those things have been completely stripped away. Most of us are sacrificing spending time with family & friends because we care more about their safety than our own selfish desire to see each other…even though we may really really want to. We aren’t able to keep a lot of the same traditions because it just isn’t safe. And maybe the hardest of all, many of us are grieving the loss of those we love who are no longer with us. The heartbreak leaving us feeling lonely with an empty hole where that person once was.

I will admit, this year with all of its ups & downs, hurts more than most. In a year that has been punctuated by tremendous loss I have struggled with grief & disappointments at times as well as delighted in the joy of the blessings God provided. 

So through a lot of prayer & turning to God’s Word I sought out what God wanted me to get from Christmas this year. He revealed to me that the real meaning of Christmas is His goodness & His grace. It is in God seeing our greatest need, one that He knew we could never fulfill on our own, & providing it, no matter what the cost. 

Jesus changed everything. 

There is a reason that the song Oh Holy Night says “a thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.” Because He brought good news & great joy! We were lost & in darkness BUT Jesus came. He lit up the darkness & saved us from sin & from death. He came knowing full well that the very purpose of His birth was His death. Imagine carrying that heavy load & yet Jesus did it with great love & tremendous joy.  

So I have to believe that we can take this year, with all of its heavy loads & know that Jesus will redeem them as well. This year was tough but we are stronger because of it. 

I recently heard a song by Sleeping At Last with lyrics that have circled around my head the last few days,

“Make these messes matter 

Make this chaos count”

It sounds almost like a prayer. Knowing that God causes all things to work together for our good & for His perfect purposes, it's a hope that everything that happened during this incredibly difficult year God will somehow use to create space for something really redemptive & beautiful in the year ahead.

Merry Christmas, with love, 

from our family to yours

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And the angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find ta baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 

    "Glory to God in the highest, 

    and on earth peace among those 

    with whom he is pleased!"

Luke 2:8-14