Christmas time. A beautiful time of the year when families are united, gifts are exchanged, the supply of delicious baked goods is endless, love and cheer is spread everywhere you go, and of course, the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. As I am sure many can relate, Christmas has always held a very special place in my heart. I have always been one to think, “oh, I appreciate the true meaning of Christmas! I don’t care too much about the presents and all that…” which is true, but although I was never much for gifts, I didn’t realize until recently that gifts aren’t the only thing that can be a huge distraction from the true meaning of Christmas. Let me explain a little bit of what I have learned from being away from home this Christmas season.
Obviously, I am in Malaysia for Christmas this year! People feel bad for me because I don’t get to be home with my family for Christmas… they often say things like “don’t worry if you cry, it is always hard on your first Christmas away from home.” Which, I’m sure it will be when the day itself arrives, but I have come to realize how truly grateful I am to be away from home this Christmas! I know, I sound crazy. Yes, I miss my family like crazy, but I would not change for anything where I am right now.
As I said, gifts are not the only thing that distracts from truly and fully appreciating what Christmas means. Personally, I have come to the realization that for me, the whole Christmas season, being SO fun, and SO busy, and SO exciting, had started to become the “meaning of Christmas” to me. Christmas was family. It was going to see Christmas lights. It was baking. It was decorating the tree. Listening to Christmas music while dancing around in a Santa hat. While all of that is beautiful, and I fully know that the Lord is filled with joy when I am filled with those things and that kind of joy, that was Christmas… and the birth of Jesus became a story that just went along with the season but took a backseat. It took being stripped of those things this year to fully realize the true meaning of Christmas. The magnificence, the absolute craziness, the grandeur of what really happened! And thatis something to celebrate!!! Although none of them are bad things, not having the annual distractions that this season brings me at home has been one of the most beautiful blessings. I have dove into the Christmas story this year like never before. I have been overwhelmed to the point of tears at the sweetness and greatness of what occurred. Specifically I have been thinking so much about Mary. Who was a girl around my age, probably younger, how confused she must have been. How many questions she must have had. Yet how much faith she had! I want faith like that! And literally ANGELS, a heavenly host appeared to the shepherds… in the sky… singing! I actually can’t get over it when I think of how amazing the whole thing is. And not only the specific events, but in general, the fact that our heavenly father literally sent his son to take on flesh and be with man. Jesus is able to identify with our suffering; he was one of us!
A song that I love this year says,
Love came down and rescued me
Love came down and set me free
I love that so much, because it reminds me Jesus is LOVE in the flesh! And LOVE came down. And it is because of this day, and this event in history that I have been set free. It’s huge. Man, I can’t get over how huge Christmas is! I am so thankful for that love.
I know that I am away from home this Christmas so that the Lord could fully take a hold of my heart this year, no distractions, just Him and me, and allow me to feel for the first time the awesomeness of what happened. I have always heard the story, but this year I have been given fresh eyes, a fresh mind, and a fresh heart to receive what it really means. Even when I do go home and I am back with the traditions and the wonderful season next year and for years to come, I will never view Christmas the same. Christmas changed the course of history forever. Hope was born into the world.
Merry Christmas!!
-Megan
