Have you ever experienced something that’s completely different and new, yet feels so similar and comfortable?
That’s how Christmas was for me.
I have never spent Christmas without my family, but here with my team, the feelings of love and joy were all the same.
I’ve always spent many days decorating the Christmas tree and hanging all our Christmas decorations with my family, but here as we attempted to make stockings and improvised a tree, the Christmas spirit was found all the same.
Each year Christmas Eve is spent at my Grandma’s house with my aunt and uncle and my cousins, this year I spent my Christmas Eve cliff jumping and zip lining into a watering hole, but still I found myself smiling just the same.
I have never even been to Africa, let alone have Christmas here, yet I could not have felt more at home as we cooked a sweet brunch and a great dinner together.
Each Christmas morning my siblings and I wake early and eagerly open all our presents, this year my team waited until after Church and brunch to sit down together and open the presents we got each other, still, the joy and thankfulness remained the same.
This Christmas was unlike any other, but one thing remained the same: LOVE.
I may have not been with my family, but I was still with people I loved.
I may have not had the same decorations, but love still filled our house.
I may have not kept up Christmas Eve traditions, but I loved the day the same.
I may have not had my typical Christmas meals, but I still got filled with love at our table.
I may have not watched my siblings, nieces, and parents open their presents, but I loved getting to watch my team open theirs.
Christmas was entirely new, but it felt just right. The experiences were all different but the feeling of love was all the same.
With all that being said, Christmas still isn’t even about any of that. The people I’m with aren’t important. The decorations don’t matter. The traditions aren’t necessary. The meals are overrated. The presents hold no value.
Christmas is all about God’s love. “For God so loved the world, He gave His only son so that you may not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
That is Christmas. God sent His love down as a little baby named Jesus.
Without any of the other commercial Christmas aspects, this is always the same, and that’s what it’s all about.
P.S. — Sorry this is a little late… I’ll blame it on the limited and crappy wifi I have (:
