It WillBe a Different Christmas for Us This Year
The Christmas season is one of my favorite seasons of the year. I love the lights, music, trees, smells, and parties with friends, and let’s not forget the food. I really love getting with family. Most of all I love the worship and focus on Christ as our Savior and Lord. And there is something special about Christmas and children. I still remember our boy’s faces when they were preschoolers as they gazed at the all the Christmas lights. When they were in elementary school, during the days before Christmas, all three boys would drag out sleeping bags or blankets and sleep on the floor around the Christmas tree, basking in it’s colorful glow. Every year for 30 years we have had one or more of our children with us for a Christmas Eve worship service and there Christmas morning to eat our special breakfast and open presents. This year will be different.
Time continues to march on. Sometimes as much as we like the status quo, things never stay the same. This is all a part of God’s wonderful plan so we can either wring our hands in despair or accept how life changes. As folks get older I hear lots of complaints like, “it is just not the way it used to be.” And you know what, they are right. Life and times change and the rate of change in our society is accelerating. For me that raises two questions. Are we celebrating and enjoying today to the fullest? And second, is my happiness and hope based on current circumstances or the future God has for me?
Actually this year I’m just glad to be here after my recent health scares. My cancer battle two years ago has made each Christmas even more precious than it was before. This year, however, will be different for several reasons. This will be our first Christmas in 30 years with none of children here Christmas morning. This will also be our first Christmas without Deb’s mom who passed away this year. Our boys are all grown and married. One lives in California, another in Texas, and our youngest in Wilmington. He and his new bride will be spending Christmas morning with her family this year. This Christmas is certainly not the way it used to be.
We could focus on the negative, but we have so much to be thankful for. We are actually delighted and grateful for their lives and families. Our son from California was in Charlotte for business this week and we will get to spend this weekend together. Our son in Wilmington and his wife will come up as well. In addition, Deb’s dad is driving up to be with us. So we are going to celebrate a week early with those who can make it.
When people were complaining to Jesus that he was not doing things the way they used to be done, “Jesus replied, ‘My Father is always working, and so am I’” (John 5:17). To me that truth is a great comfort. While times continue to change God is always at work. I can rest in his sovereignty. I choose to fully embrace each day, and each Christmas and soak all the joy I can out of each moment. And I also know that my happiness and hope are not based on current circumstances but rather on the incredible future God has for me. Let’s lay up some treasure in heaven this season, because this life is not all there is.
