December 24, 2016

Greetings My Friend, Tonight is Christmas Eve and my mind turns toward the birth of Jesus. We will attend our church and the familiar passages of Jesus' birth will be read, familiar songs will be sung and more than likely I will enter into the our Savior's birth more fully. It is the time to stop and view the gift of our Savior born in the flesh and the life He lived dying on the cross and finally His resurrection and find the awe of the season seep into my heart. When my children were young my ex and I had our children plan a service where we celebrated Jesus' birth. Prior to Christmas we asked them to do some sort of gesture where they helped another person out. We did this before any gifts were opened and they enjoyed the time to reflect and share their thoughts. When our grandchildren came along we spent a few minutes reading the familiar passages from the Bible and then we lit candles on a cake, sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. This year I struggled to get my heart into the season until I placed a Nativity on the mantle. I have come to believe we need to redirect our focus on the reason for the season which Jesus. Each year when the Christmas decorations come out I begin looking for Christian decorations, even cards and they are very few in relation to all the other items for sale. The idea of gift giving is easy to buy into but the idea of buying simple gifts are long gone. It is fun to think of the Wise Men bringing baby Jesus gifts so we want to buy those we love gifts only the gift giving part of what the Wise Men brought have been lost in the shuffle of more. The gifts were brought for a King. Ironically God had Mary and Joseph leave with baby Jesus when Herod wanted to kill all the babies around Jesus' age of about 2. Those gifts that the Wise Men brought baby Jesus more than likely supported the family while they were living in Egypt. This year I have avoided shopping for much of anything. I have made a few gifts to give to a few people and I like the simpler gift giving. I am attempting to focus my heart on the gift of salvation through our Savior instead of all the hustle and bustle that has taken His place. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet