Christmas Is...

It’s that time of year where we all go digging through the attic or storage space to pull down the Christmas boxes. When we open those boxes we aren’t simply getting out decorations - no, we are opening a box that leads to Christmases of the past. Know what I mean?

You pull out that ornament you got when you played baseball or the ceramic christmas tree that used to be in grandma’s window and bam! Those objects take you back. Sometimes they take you to happy memories and sometimes to sad ones, but either way you are transported. Do you have a decoration that means more to you than others? What is it? Why is it so special?

I have one particular decoration that has to be out for it to be Christmas. It’s the picture frame you see above. Until that is hanging on the wall it just isn’t Christmas time.

“Christmas is goodwill and compassion, firelight and candlelight, a family time, a time for worship. It’s the glow on a child’s face. BUT MOST of ALL it is a story of love which began centuries ago and spread to all the world.”

My mother made that the year I was born. There hasn’t been a year of my life that that picture frame hasn’t been present on Christmas morning. I’ve always loved it. It draws me in year after year. The message is so simple, but I often lose sight of it as season gets going. I’m guilty, like many, of getting caught up in the bustle of the season - the shopping, the baking, the decorating. None of those things are bad, yet none hold the true meaning of the season. This year I want it to be different.

As this season starts I want to keep that message in mind. I want to focus on goodwill and compassion. I want to choose to worship in the hard situations. I want to appreciate the glow and excitement I see on the kids faces. I want to remember WHO the season is about, far more that what the season holds.

Will you join me? Will you choose to keep your eyes lifted to the heavens and see what God is going to do this Christmas season? I just have a feeling that it is going to be amazing.

To Everything There Is A Season…

Kiley Ann