The Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are my favorite time of year. I have so much to be thankful for. God has blessed me with a beautiful family, with friends, with a church family that loves and cares about me, with a job that allows me to serve him, and with so much more. Life is so busy that I forget to take time to be thankful and beginning the Christmas season with a thankful heart is the best way to start. Christmas is by far my favorite holiday. It is not all the gifts, which don't get me wrong I love to give, but it is the remembrance of what God has done for me. As a mother I think about Mary and the journey she had to take and I am not sure how she did it. I can't imagine being close to your delivery time and spending days riding on a smelly donkey, to then have to deliver your baby in a barn with a bunch of animals. She must have been tired, dirty and maybe even frustrated or angry at the situation. Mary, just an ordinary girl with ordinary feelings and yet God chose her to give birth to the Savior of the world. Oh, the joy she must have felt when she looked at baby Jesus for the first time. All the fears, frustrations and tiredness are forgotten and all she can see, think and feel is Jesus. Most amazing to me is that God did that for me. He gave the greatest gift, the gift of Jesus and He did for me.
When I think about Christmas my heart is filled with so much joy. I am reminded that Jesus was born and lived a life not so much different than my own. He knew what it was like to face the challenges of everyday life. He felt all the same fears, frustration, anger, happiness, joy and other emotions that I experience today. It is this time of year that I am reminded that Jesus knows all about what I am going through because He went through it himself. My heart is so filled with joy and peace as I reflect on His birth, life, death and resurrection and realize that it was all for me.
As you look around this Christmas season don't get caught up in all the things that Christmas has become. Don't allow worldly things and motives to harden your heart to the real reason for the season. Take time to remember the simple story of Jesus birth and what He has done for you. Take time to share that story with those around you. Share the joy of Christmas. Take time to remember the greatest gift ever given, Jesus.
