CHRISTmas

This is the first Christmas ever that I have been away from my family. Being far away from home during the holidays is hard, maybe harder than I thought.  But it also has given me new perspective. 

So often, my focus for Christmas is gifts.  I usually start making my list of Christmas wishes right after my birthday in early November, give my carefully thought out and decorated list of wants to my mother who knows all too well to stick to my list lest she be asked for receipts to return gifts that were supposed to "surprise" me.  But I'm not just focused on the getting.  I also love gift-giving and enjoy finding presents that I know will be appreicated and admired by the recipients.

This year is so different though.  Without the frills and food, presents and parties…is it still Christmas?  I have nothing to decorate, no party dress to wear or place to go, no oven to bake in, no presents to wrap, and no gifts under the tree.  Yet, it IS still Christmas.

Christ, our Savior, was born, as the prophet Isaiah wrote:

For unto us a child is born,

    unto us a son is given,

    and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

"I don’t want a Christmas that you can buy.
I don’t want a Christmas that you can make.

What I want is a Christmas that you can hold.
A Christmas that holds me, remakes me, revives me.

I want a Christmas that whispers — Jesus.
I want a Christmas that lives and breathes and moves.

I want for the God in the manger who makes Himself bread,
For the Savior in swaddlings who makes Himself our robe of righteousness,
For the Christ who makes precisely what none of us can — Christmas.


 
It is only Christ alone who can make Christmas."