The Joy and Blessings of Christmas

In reflecting back on Christmas, I can honestly say it was filled with Joy and Blessings. 

I could complain and be ungrateful for a lot this season, but my family has remained strong, resilient and determined to weather the storm. 

So, here are just a few of the things that have made this Christmas joyous and blessed: 

Family

My family is just awesome. The support system and love they show is just amazing. This Christmas was unique in that our family made the purposeful decision to focus on family and the True Meaning of Christmas, instead of gifts (which I will talk about more momentarily). We shared lots of laughs, conversations, cooking together, and all the mischief we could get into. Christmas is one of the few times that we are able to get together as a whole, take time for one another and just relax. We all have such busy lives, that it was so nice just to be able focus on each other and have fun. 

Christmas Services 

This was a highlight for me this year. I was able to attend three different services over the course of the week. Two services were Nights of Worship which were put on by the church's praise band, on the first night, and by the choir and orchestra, the next night. Then, on Christmas Eve, a Candle Light service. For me, this year, these services were so important, which is why they were such a huge blessing. 

This year, I had a very tough time in finding the Christmas spirit, my heart just wasn't into it. I think a major contributing factor was the weather. The weather was so warm all week and even warmer Christmas Eve and Christmas day. And actually, instead of having a white Christmas, we had a wet Christmas. We had torrential downpours, so bad so that in various places across the state had major flooding or debris problems. 

The rain was so heavy that it prevented one set of my grandparents from joining us for Christmas day festivities. 

So, those different illustrations show that I could have complained and been ungrateful on so many fronts. But these three different Christmas services reigned in my heart and pointed me back into the correct direction of where I needed to be in order to enjoy Christmas. 

The music performed was so beautiful and really captured what the true meaning of Christmas. Some of the selections include some of the better known selections such as Go Tell It On The Mountain, O Holy Night, Little Drummer Boy, Mary Did You Know and others; other selections included ones that I hadn't heard of before, nonetheless beautiful and inspired. In a later post, I will be discussing my perspective on music, primarily focused on Christian music, is inspired and is our modern day poetry. 

No Gifts 

This was a new thing for my family this year. As an extended family, we agreed that no gifts would be exchanged; as an immediate family, we exchanged limited gifts. But for me, I really enjoyed this for several reasons: 

- Took off the pressures of finding that perfect, practical, usable gift for everyone in the family. 

- Allowed for way more family time. Instead of getting swept away in the hustle and frantic dashes in and out of stores, weaving between the many people clogging the aisle way and standing in the forever long check-out lines (Thank you to all the retail people who worked the long Christmas hours and served the customers to the best of your ability and moved them through the lines the best you could), I was able to spend tons of time with my family. 

- Puts the True Meaning back in forefront. What time that would have been taken by shopping, I was able to put that time back into attending Nights of Worship and the Candlelight Service, which I have already alluded to, put my heart where it needed to be for Christmas. 

So, in all, I believe that this has my favorite Christmas thus far. For me, the small things in life are what make me happy. So, our little "Charlie Brown" tree with home-made decorations and all the family time sent me over the moon with joy. God has so richly blessed me with a family who does their best to find the best in every situation, stays faithful to God despite the hardships, trials, obstacles and storms and loves hard. I am totally thankful for them. 

As you head into this week of the New Year, I pray that you enter it with happiness, good health and blessings. I also hope that the Christmas season has filled you with hope, joy and blessings that you can carry with you into the New Year. 

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." ~Romans 15:13