Merry Christmas, Darling (that means you!)
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Well I won't be around at all to post tomorrow or Christmas itself, but I really want to post about why Christmas is special for me this year. I think especially as we get older and Christmas (quite rightly) gets less and less about the presents that dominated the holiday when we were kids, we have to work harder to make each year meaningful. Maybe that's just me. But here's why 2005 is a Christmas to remember.
It was, to understate the obvious, a difficult semester. I'm not proud of this, but I definitely shoved God a bit farther down the priorities list than he ought to be. Way farther, actually...since anywhere other than first is too far down. So my main goal this semester was to draw near to God again (that he would draw near to me--James 4:8). Well I sure as heck didn't know how to do this. I felt like I'd been through all the ups and downs already and what's one more climb back up. But really, every time is different, so getting out of it is different.
For some reason, as I was reading (guess who) before bed, something clicked in my head that I had never quite grasped before. I was going to write that I'm ashamed to admit this, but I'm not. I learned how to pray a couple days ago. In fact, during my first quiet time of "real prayer," (please ignore any weird connotations that might carry, it's getting late and I don't know how else to say it) I prayed to understand something new about Christmas this year. And before I had even whispered that petition (maybe before I even thought it?), I realized that this "real prayer" of true conversation with the Creator of the Universe was one of the primary reasons for Christmas itself!
What an immediate and complete answer! How could I have hoped to understand even a fraction of Jesus' significance in my own life before learning how to really talk to him? I have been a Christian my whole life, but that doesn't mean I can assume I understand even the most fundamental aspects of the faith. This is a perfect example of my ignorance and God's patience with me. On top of that, I have a new excitement for prayer that I've never quite experienced before. What a gift!!
Merry Christmas, folks. Don't let it pass you up this year without pausing to think about the meaning of Jesus' life on earth.
Well I won't be around at all to post tomorrow or Christmas itself, but I really want to post about why Christmas is special for me this year. I think especially as we get older and Christmas (quite rightly) gets less and less about the presents that dominated the holiday when we were kids, we have to work harder to make each year meaningful. Maybe that's just me. But here's why 2005 is a Christmas to remember.
It was, to understate the obvious, a difficult semester. I'm not proud of this, but I definitely shoved God a bit farther down the priorities list than he ought to be. Way farther, actually...since anywhere other than first is too far down. So my main goal this semester was to draw near to God again (that he would draw near to me--James 4:8). Well I sure as heck didn't know how to do this. I felt like I'd been through all the ups and downs already and what's one more climb back up. But really, every time is different, so getting out of it is different.
For some reason, as I was reading (guess who) before bed, something clicked in my head that I had never quite grasped before. I was going to write that I'm ashamed to admit this, but I'm not. I learned how to pray a couple days ago. In fact, during my first quiet time of "real prayer," (please ignore any weird connotations that might carry, it's getting late and I don't know how else to say it) I prayed to understand something new about Christmas this year. And before I had even whispered that petition (maybe before I even thought it?), I realized that this "real prayer" of true conversation with the Creator of the Universe was one of the primary reasons for Christmas itself!
What an immediate and complete answer! How could I have hoped to understand even a fraction of Jesus' significance in my own life before learning how to really talk to him? I have been a Christian my whole life, but that doesn't mean I can assume I understand even the most fundamental aspects of the faith. This is a perfect example of my ignorance and God's patience with me. On top of that, I have a new excitement for prayer that I've never quite experienced before. What a gift!!
Merry Christmas, folks. Don't let it pass you up this year without pausing to think about the meaning of Jesus' life on earth.