It’s December 20th and I’ve never felt less Christmas-y in my life.
I don’t get it. I’ve done all the things- watched Christmas movies (the classics and the newer ones), listened to Christmas music starting the day after Thanksgiving, looked at Christmas lights, changed my profile picture on Facebook to my Elf picture, sang Christmas songs, attended countless Christmas parties, and even took my picture with Santa. And I really can’t blame the weather either. I’m from South Texas where we sometimes get cold weather but is not unusual for Christmas to be 75 and humid.
Maybe it’s because I didn’t just finish a tough semester with brutal finals… But that never exactly put me in the Christmas spirit…
Maybe it’s because I’m not home? Hmm that could be it.
You see, when you and your sibling are away at college and doing all sorts of crazy things like traveling or working during the summer, Christmas time becomes this special season that equates to togetherness. A togetherness that used to exist every day prior to my brother leaving for college that quickly became a once or twice a year treat. I don’t feel like it’s Christmas because I’m not with my family. I don’t feel like it’s Christmas because I’m not home. As I sit in my bed in the Philippines sweating (it’s impossible not to sweat 24/7 in this country), I can’t help but think that’s there has got to be more to this whole Christmas thing. And there is: Jesus.
Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus. It is the day that He made this Earth His temporary home so that He could eventually die on the cross and welcome us into our eternal home with Him in Heaven. It is a celebration of the greatest gift we could ever have been given.
And what was the primary motivation for that gift?
Love.
Christmas is all about love: the love that God had for this broken world to send us His son Jesus.
And where do we most often find love? In our homes!
It seems only natural that we want to celebrate this holiday with our families, with the people who love us, in our homes. But, have we intertwined Christmas so tightly with our families and our traditions that it is impossible to separate the two? Family and traditions are great things but when we get so caught up in preparing for family to come in to town or our big Christmas party that the whole neighborhood will be attending that we forget to prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus, we’re doing it wrong. We are preparing for Christmas and not for Christ.
I am missing the togetherness of spending Christmas with my family but I can’t help but think that over the last few years, perhaps I’ve been celebrating my family instead of the birth of my savior. Perhaps we all have…
Being together for Christmas is wonderful but when we let that togetherness and those traditions of our individual families overshadow the birth of Jesus and the invitation that comes through his resurrection to become a part of God’s family, we’ve missed the point. It’s seems so simple but God had to bring me across the world to truly teach me how to celebrate Christmas.
He took me away from the only Christmas I have ever known to help me refocus. He’s taken me out of everything familiar to bring me back to the true focus of the holiday- the birth of the Jesus.
He has shown me that His love, through the gift of His son, is enough for me and that that gift can be found anywhere in the world. He is telling me that I can find joy and rejoicing on this incredible day even without my family when I take time to prepare my heart for Him and ensure He is the center of my attention.
He is reminding me that family is great but He is better.
I may be away from my home for Christmas this year but that’s alright. What a sweet way to celebrate the birth of the One who promises me a home with Him forever.
