december 20

christmas time - the joys the struggles and the truth behind it all!

the joys of the christmas season are truly boundless. the excitement of seeing family and spending time with each other. the happiness found in giving gifts to those who are important to you. the beautiful decorations and lights. the fun of decorating the tree and remembering those who gave you special ornaments. and who could leave out all the wonderful christmas music! and lets be honest it is fun to open gifts from those who care about you too. ah christmas time really is just an incredible time of year. but unfortunately it isn't all warm and fuzzies for everyone...

along with the joys there are just as many struggles that come with the christmas season. this can be a time of loneliness, sadness, and hopelessness. most people hurt for those who don't have a home to decorate, don't have food in order to prepare any sort of dinner on christmas day, don't have a family to share this time with, and those who have lost loved ones. its so hard to grasp that a time of year that can bring so much joy and at the same time so much pain.

someone can be sitting in a room full of those they love, and still feel completely alone. someone can be sitting at the table full of more food than the entire neighborhood could eat and still feel hungry for something more. someone could have everything in life an individual could imagine, and still feel hopeless. the only thing that can take away this loneliness, sadness, and hopelessness is the truth behind the season (as most people like to say it, the reason for the season)

being a preschool teacher, i tell the christmas story over and over again each year and each year the amazement of it hits me like a brick. the miracles, the journey, the angels, all of it is so difficult to grasp because these are things our finite human minds can never fully comprehend. the fact that a baby would be born in a stable among the animals and laid to sleep in a feeding troth. this beautiful baby who would be the only human to live a perfect life, was brought into this world among the dirt and filth of animals. this baby was part of the trinity and God himself in human form. this wonderful baby was born for us and only us. he was born with the purpose of dying for our sins.

while the family, friends, food, celebration, gifts and fun are great aspects of the season, without God and Jesus, what good is it really? these are simply aspects of our time on this earth, but the true celebration is the gift of that beautiful, perfect, amazing, and holy baby, Jesus. so i challenge myself and you to remember this during your christmas and remember that this is not simply a story, but truth as well as the meaning and purpose of our lives.

hope you all have a merry christmas! :)