Christmas is a divine story, complete in itself. Yet it has occured to me, that each year our own lives display a second kind of Christmas story.
The actual story of Christmas happened over 2000 years ago. Each year, as I remember that story, my gratitude and awe for it grow more and more. But our own lives are also a story. And each year when Christmas comes around another scene of our lives is played out. The Christmas story never changes, but with each passing year, our own story does.
How often do we get the Christmas story confused with our own?
This year, I choose to set that long ago story apart from my own story. The story of God's love shown to humankind by sending us a Savior King...in the form of a tiny baby. His own Son, Jesus. THE GIFT. I choose to celebrate Him this Christmas.
Celebrate Him by my worship of Him.
Celebrate Him by sharing His message of love with the hurting people around me.
Celebrate Him by surrounding myself with songs about His love.
Celebrate Him by displaying nativities, lit candles, and nature around my home...reminding me of His birth.
I choose to celebrate HIM.
Yet, my life like yours, has many stories of Decembers past and will have stories of Decembers in the future. These are the stories of our lives as we celebrate what has become known as "Christmas".
Some Decembers our lives have loads of children, trees, gifts, fireplaces, food, snow, family times and love.
Some Decembers our lives have heartake, divorce, strife, pain, loneliness, or even death.
Some Decembers our lives have an abundance of wealth.
Some Decembers our lives have an abundance of debt.
Some Decembers our lives display a sort of soft quiet.
Some Decembers our lives are a bustling month of activity.
But the story of Christmas NEVER changes! NEVER! It is always the same. We can always celebrate that story! In December...or all year long.
Though, my challenge, like for many of you, is to not connect the actual Christmas story with the story of my own life. My challenge is to realize that each December will be a different "act" of my life. That each year will bring with it change. I challenge you to remember that we need to accept our current December for what it is, instead of wishing for a past December or even having a hard time forgetting about one of them. Remembering instead, that the Christmas story will never change and to celebrate the true story of Christmas rather than re-live our own.
Try along with me to realize that how we choose to live during the month of December is unique to each of us. It is our life that we are living.
So...
If we love family time, we should join in.
If we love decorating, we should join in,
If we love gift giving, we should join in.
But just remember, that these activities are not the Christmas story. They are just activities of our lives. Let's always remember God's great love shown toward us. He sent us Baby King Jesus, the Savior of the world...before any of these December activities threatened to distract us from His story.
There is His story, and there is mine. I choose to not confuse them any longer.
Debbie, Thank you for your response. Yes, so good to think of praying for those that we are “doing” Christmas for. May you be blessed this year as you spread His love.
How very beautifully put! We (actually, I) get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of things we “think” we have to do, but do we take the time to really reflect what December symbolizes in terms of the birth of our Savior? Do we bake and pray for those we are baking for? Do we send out Christmas cards and pray over the receiver(s) and our message to them? Do we wash dishes after a holiday meal with the joy of being able to do it w/o disease or separation in the family? In other words, what does our attitude reflect? Thanks for making me ponder this most important thing – His story which is Love.