90 Days Until Christmas

It’s 90 days until Christmas!  Wow… I’m just getting used to the beginning of fall, but as history serves me well, it’s really home stretch to the most encompassing, time-consuming, costly part of the year!  It is at this time that I find myself juggling household and family obligations in a mad rush to finish the perfect gift, decorations and party gathering activities.

I’m older now, and hopefully wiser.  My days are gone of having to hide gifts so my children wouldn’t find them.  Sometimes, I miss those days.  Those little ones certainly make for a fun time at Christmas.

But, in all honesty, those days were very stressful.  Especially when my children asked for things that my pocketbook could not afford.  It wasn’t as though I raised my children to be so materialistic, but let’s face it—they saw what other children received at Christmas, and it made me feel sad when they were disappointed that they could not get the same.  It was at this time that I grew to cringe at even the thought of Christmas coming. 

Now, as a grandma, I am still very sensitive about the deficiency that parents feel at this time of the year.  I have grandchildren now, and my husband and I try to be as generous with them as we possibly can be.  But, I also know that we cannot give them everything.  This is a part of the reality of life!  However, I also know that which I just referred to is of an earthly nature.  For we have all riches that are without measure that are available to us.  These are the most important in the big picture of things.  So this Christmas, I am going to be very generous.  My pocketbook may have limits, but not my spirit.  It is in this realm that I must first though fill up with God’s resources.  Galatians 5:22 speaks of gifts.  I must possess these ‘gifts’ before I can give them to others.

“But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, …”

What this says to me is that these are the gifts I need to possess as I am scurrying about the Christmas season.  It’s what I carry in my spiritual ‘pocketbook’, so to speak.  These gifts will guide me through the times I am tired and just can’t take waiting one more minute in a long line at the store.  It is what will keep me in check when my budget needs to be obeyed and not the temptation to buy a more expensive item even though it’s hard to resist.  Finally, it will give me the joy to be able to reach out to others who are in desperate need of kindness.  This is because above all these ‘gifts’ is One who is the mantra – Jesus Christ.  It was His birth and death that allows me to receive eternal life.  This puts the Christmas season in perspective.  The day after the holiday when the season’s merchandise is slashed by 50% and the store aisles look as though a tornado went through, God’s eternal gift remains untarnished and precious. 

So, 90 days it is.  Will I fear or stress?  Oh yes, I will have my moments—after all, I am simply a flimsy mortal.  Why else would I need a Savior?  But, having God in my life does make a difference.  If I had to have a goal for this Christmas season, which I do; it is this~  This Christmas season, I want to make it count.  Not in how many earthly, temporary gifts I can give, or how splendid my house decorating turns out… But, my measure is by how much I can give out to others that would translate into the reflection they would see of the One who’s birthday it really is after all- Jesus Christ.

Years ago, when our children were little, we always made sure that they knew who’s birthday it really was at Christmas.  I even would have a birthday cake where my kids were able to sing “Happy Birthday Jesus”.  I confess though, that I very often forget this unchanging truth, and focus on the attributes of the season that actually remove Jesus from the holiday.  So, in writing this, I renew my commitment to keep Jesus first in the holiday, others in extending love and kindness, and taking time for myself to really see the beauty of Christmas.

In essence, this is what Christmas is really about:

Jesus

Others

Yourself

 

So, “Joy to the world, the Lord has come!”