What Christmas Means to Me

Earlier in the Christmas season, Shaun Groves wrote about how he struggles to find any wonder in the Christmas story having heard it so many times throughout his life.

Well, I've heard it a lot, too. I am after all a PK, a pastor's kid, and spent many hours at church growing up. But for some reason...there's something about Christmas that disarms me. Throughout the rest of the year, it's quite easy to harden the old heart, to forget that miracles still do happen, to remember that God loves me. But at Christmas...at Christmas I am reminded that He does.

At Christmas I feel free to hope, because I am reminded that God loved mankind enough to send His son to earth as a human. At Christmas, I feel free to bask in the wonder of all that hope and joy and love...at Christmas we haven't gotten to the death part yet or all the torture. There haven't even been any miracles...Christmas is the beginning....the birth of hope or as the song says, "the dawn of grace." At Christmas, I am celebrating the life of Jesus...a King born into the humblest of circumstances reminding us that "He knows our needs, to our weakness is no stranger." Reminding us that His heart is tender for the poor and oppressed. Reminding us that we're not alone. We're not forgotten. We are loved and deeply so. Unfathomably so.

This Christmas is a low key one for me. I'll go over to my parents, but no other family members have made the trek to Cali this year. I spent considerably less than in years past, and I am content with what I have. The truth is, the most important part of Christmas to me is when the wonder ignites in my heart...as I listen to the familiar Christmas songs or read the familiar words in the Bible. When I let my guard down and just celebrate being loved so much. Christmas for me is an intimate time with God.

I know not all of my readers share my beliefs or even celebrate Christmas. But for those of you who do...Merry Christmas. You are loved and not forgotten. Let yourself rejoice in that today.

To all who celebrate...Merry Christmas!