Christmas 2015

Christmas - a time when love came down - a King born in a lowly stable.  A night unlike any other, when a host of angels appeared in the heavenly skies to praise the arrival of the Messiah.  The shepherds followed the singing and it led them to the manger where the swaddled Christ child - a tiny babe.  The shepherds worshipped and were in awe.  A bright star overhead led the wisemen to the stable to also worship the King - Immanuel - God with us.  Worship and adoration is truly what Christmas ought to be about.  And yet, it seems at times when I look at the hustle and bustle of the pre-Christmas rush, we loose sight of what Christmas is meant to be.  Love of family and friends united together to celebrate the joy of a Messiah born over 2000 years ago.

While out shopping, joy is lost as you see the selfish side of people.  While bustling about, we forget to show patience to others.  We hear sounds of, "Happy Holidays" rather than, "Merry Christmas!"  This particularly bothers Jaret who made mention of not being able to use the H word.  To which Kirra jokingly responded, "What?  Happy?" and I followed with, "What?  Holidays?"  But I am grateful for his heart of wanting Christmas to remain what it is - Christmas, not just a Holiday.  It seems at times, we have wandered so far from the meaning of Christmas.  That we care more about being politically correct than about why we have this holiday in the first place.  It is because of the wonder of Jesus being born.  And that is what we should be focused on.  Jesus' birth and all that surrounded His coming should bring joy and meaning into our lives - at Christmas and throughout the year.

We are so grateful to be part of a church family and attending the Christmas Eve service was another reminder of the joy in Jesus birth and in the rest of the story of His coming.  It was another wonderful service where we left uplifted and inspired.  We also had the opportunity to light a candle as a remembrance for Ayden who is missed every day.  In lighting the candle, we are reminded of the light he brought to our lives.  A recent devotion by Gwen Smith stated it well, "When grief runs deep God's comforting love runs deeper still."  It is peace that can only be found in Jesus and His arms are open wide for us.

Following the church service, we went home to have some for d'oeuvres, snap a family picture and give in the kid's excitement of wanting to open gifts.  They were blessed with some nice gifts, some of which were checked off from their wish list.  The following morning, after stockings, we had breakfast of skinny pancakes made by Terry's mom.  Then with the bird in the oven, we spent the day playing with the new toys and playing some board games.  It was a great day spent with family.  And even though we didn't have a birthday cake (but baking instead), Kirra sang Happy Birthday to Jesus!