What did you get for Christmas this year? I could think of little I wanted when people asked for ideas as to what to give me. Just wanted my family safe, sound and happy…all together would have been nice too. However, it was a little different this year. We were together, just not at the same time.
We traveled to Anderson on Christmas Eve and spent a few hours with our daughter and family there. Got home in time to bake some pies for the next day. Our other daughter and her family came over Christmas morning and we exchanged gifts. She and I prepared the meal and cleaned up afterwards. They all went home full and happy with their gifts. Later, our son and his family arrived and another gift exchange took place. It was a long but happy day.
In a year when most of the shopping was done on-line in order to avoid the crowds, I managed to find some bargains and actually finished my shopping early. Got plenty of batteries, paper, tape and name tags. There was none of the usual last minute trips to the store on Christmas Eve…and it did feel a lot more like Christmas this time. I hope it did for you as well.
Even the Christmas movies I watched seemed a little more open about the real reason for the season this time. Oh Holy Night and Silent Night seemed to be the favored songs and many included a performance of the first Christmas, when God sent us His greatest gift of all…Jesus. A chance for many of us to view the Christmas star for real made the season even more special.
What did you get for Christmas this year? Besides the material things I asked for, I also got the joy that comes from knowing Jesus, helping others and seeing my family smile, the peace that comes from knowing that God is real and that He cares for each one of us, the hope of a better year to come, and the promise that He will never leave us or forsake us.
May we all take these gifts into the new year with us and let it be known to all that: …God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. John 3: 16-17
