At Christmas time, we think about all the presents, trees, lights, family & of course all the Christmas cookies. We plan church parties and family dinners. There are Christmas programs at school and church, and for those of us in the North, there's the sledding and snow ball fights. God has blessed us all so much. We have the freedom to celebrate the birth of our Saviour any way that we choose. There are no shortage of trees or lights; we can run to the nearest Walmart to get our presents and even buy our cookies. Head outside and there's a winter wonderland of snow, just waiting to be thrown or built into a fort! There are blessings all around us!
This has been a tough year for me. Two of my closest friends moved far away and a close family member was diagnosed with cancer; so much of what the holidays represent was lost to me. I was looking back on my year and I became very lonely. Things were just not the same to me anymore and it just did not feel like Christmas! I poured my heart out to my husband and his response was that it wasn't about all the circumstances around me; Christmas is about the birth of Jesus. I began to realize how selfish I had become. I may have had a rough year, but through it all, God taught me so much! He blessed me with knowledge and I truly grew to know Him more. I've learned to let Him lead me and trust that He knows where He's taking me. I also realized that I had been completely focused on myself and needed to be a blessing to others, just as God has blessed me.
So, no matter what you are going through this Christmas season, let us take the focus off of ourselves and try to be a blessing. Pray that God will show you a way to help others. There's people in need all around us, if we just take the time to truly care. Maybe there's a family that you know who doesn't have enough to buy their children presents this year. Maybe there's an elderly neighbor who is unable to shovel their sidewalk or can't get through the snow to get their mail or buy groceries. How about the many who have lost their jobs and are struggling day to day, making the idea of buying gifts one more added pressure. If you take the focus off of yourself and look around you, God will reveal to you those in need and will allow you to be a blessing.
Galatians 6:2 "Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ."
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