We had our Carol Service at Church on Sunday evening and my kids were part of a play that, while being very funny, spoke a heap of truth… It began with not a heap of practicing. It was one of those rather spontaneous events!!!
A couple of folk being called up, you know all the main players: A Mary, a Joseph, a baby Jesus, a couple of angels not to mention a couple of shepherds and their sheep and some wise men and even a donkey!!!
And then… and I am not quite sure where this fits in but then they invited another main player into the picture: Father Christmas and all his elves…
And Mary and Joseph were lost from sight and baby Jesus was nowhere to be seen…
And isn’t that the startling truth about Christmas. If we have done all our shopping and we have been stocking up for months so that we can have a peaceful time with our family during the crazy season, or if we have decided that this year is going to be totally and completely home made and then spent eight hours a night crafting gifts while the children sleep… However we have decided to “do Christmas” this year a lot of our time and energy will be spent on things that obscure the main point of Christmas… and that would be remembering the baby Jesus…
So with that in mind we are focusing on His birthday… It is important for us to celebrate and to remember the birth of Jesus and it is a big event… But not such a big event that we use up all our time on preparations, all our finances on gifts and all our energy on keeping up with the neighbors and a bit more… We have whittled our Christmas down to our se7en traditions… More than that is overwhelming and less than that and it doesn’t feel like Christmas.
I used to worry about getting everything done and having our house all perfectly in order and then fail galactically, but I had to learn – Christmas is not about us and our house and perfect gifts with matching gift tags, and perfect roast potatoes and magnificent desserts. Those things are fine and no one is going to complain about them, but no one will remember if they weren’t perfect!!! I bet you don’t remember what you got your kids for Christmas last year or the year before, even though you will have agonized over it at the time!!! Christmas is about remembering that all good gifts come from God and the best gift of all was His Son…
All I can say is “Yes! I agree!”
Thanks Linda!!! It is always good to hear someone is out there and thinks the same way!!! Have a wonderful day!!!
Looks like one amazingly fun time at church! Your focus is so wonderful— when we immerse our focus on the REAL meaning of CHRISTMAS everything just seems to fall in place and our heart become so full of love and joy. :):) You can see all that joy in your photos!!! HAPPY CHRISTMAS!
Hay KM!!! Thanks for visiting again and again!!! Would you just love that Christmas Candy House you made!!! I hope you guys are having a fun time doing things on your list!!!
Good points! Whenever the “stuff” is stripped away, we are free to love God so much more clearly. Sometimes having the trimmings of Christmas fall apart does jolt us into our Christian reality!
Hay MaryAnne…. You came over and said hi!!! I a m honored!!! I hope you guys have a lovely snug day!!! Lots of love from sunny Cape Town…