Merry Christmas (Eve!) I believe that we are sometimes hard on ourselves at Christmas. We talk about the commercialization and consumerism of the season. It is true that much of the Christmas message can get lost in how the world celebrates the secular part of the holiday. And I agree that as Christians we need to make sure that we are honoring the birth of the Savior and the message of God’s love in the world. The greatest gift of Christmas is that God came into the world to be with us - Emmanuel, “God with us”, in the form of the Christ child born in Bethlehem. But I think we’re mistaken if we think that opening presents is somehow incompatible with the Christmas message. Right now I am so excited to think of my husband and children opening their presents tomorrow morning. I have gifts for them and gifts that they have for each other that I know of (I am the universal gift wrapper for my family) that are small expressions of our love for each other. My son has a gift for his sister that he had been wanting to get her for over a year - it doesn’t have a large price tag, but he had been looking for this specific gift since her birthday in October of 2013 and was only recently able to find it. Brooks’ love for Hannah is born out of the Savior’s love for us. God’s love for the world. I think back to the Christmases when I was a child. We would get up early and open presents at home before going to my grandparents home. There, all the aunts, uncles, and cousins would be gathered and we would open more presents and eat Christmas dinner. To be honest - I can’t remember a single Christmas gift I received at my grandparents’ home. It isn’t that they weren’t important to me, it is just that all of those gifts are overshadowed by the love I have in the memories of family gathered together. Gifts are fun exclamation points in the memories we make with each other. They heighten the love that is already present when we gather together. They can express the love that is already known. But in the end, more often than not, it is the warm memories of God’s love expressed in our friends and family that stay with us through the years. So, enjoy the holy time of Christmas and remember the gift that was given to you. And when you get excited about that special gift you’re giving a loved one - just imagine the excitement that God has in giving Jesus to us. Merry Christmas! (Pictured below is my Grandma Doles at Christmas and one of us together!)
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 16:39:38 +0000
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