This Christmas was also different. I spent it with different people doing different things in a different place. Daniel and I traveled to Nashville to spend Christmas with his family. To be honest, Christmas has been rather hard for me and my family for several years now. It has lost its luster and hype for us because of this, but it has also, at least for me, caused us to re-evaluate and learn to treasure Christmas for the joy it really is, for its true meaning. Sure, giving and receiving presents is fun, and so are the sights and sounds of the holidays, but none of these things last or fulfill or give us lasting joy. But when we focus in on Jesus - who He is, why He came, what He’s done - and we embrace Him for all He is and all He did for us, then we will find true satisfaction and fulfillment and joy and peace.
And Jesus can be found in the traditions and joys too because all are a gift from Him. He has purposes for the struggles and joys of life and He is in control of them all. For me, this Christmas contained much more happiness than those of recent years. It was a really sweet time of hanging out with Daniel’s family and getting to know them better, participating in their traditions, making Christmas cookies for Santa for the first time, eating lots of yummy food, and viewing the lights and decorations of the city. It was also just a time of rest. Plus, Daniel and are started some of our own traditions, like reading an Advent book together and making a gingerbread house and watching select Christmas movies together. (He bought me “Charlie Brown Christmas” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” as gifts – he had never seen them before, which I can barely compute, but we quickly remedied that).
Of course, there was still some pain of missing my dad and my mom and sister, of wanting them to share in what I was experiencing, but there was much more for which to be thankful. It was a low-key Christmas spent with family, and God helped me to keep my thoughts on Him continually. Because at the end of the day, presents and family and food and traditions do not satisfy. Time off comes to an end. Visiting comes to an end. Food comes to an end. Presents come to an end and the things that they contain do not last. But Jesus, the one that this season was established for, He never fades away. He alone meets our deepest need of fellowship, rest, sustenance, and enjoyment.
You make known to me the path of life;Taste and see that the Lord is good and that He is all you need.
in your presence is fullness of joy;
at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11
