Christmas

The discussion today is Christmas. What does Christmas mean to you, what is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word Christmas? How do you celebrate Christmas?

For me Christmas is very special it means celebrating the birth of God's Son, Jesus my Lord and Savior. It also is a time for family and friends to just get together harmoniously.

During the Christmas season we just go around in circles getting this, getting that and we forget who we are really celebrating, I don't think Jesus is saying OH, I want an IPAD, IPOD, XBox, Wii, etc...... He just wants to spend time with us. He wants us to remember that this day is about Him not us. My Pastor said it the best "how many of you bring the most extravagant birthday gift for yourselves to someone else's birthday party?" LOL When you really think about it I don't think anyone really does that, so then why do we focus on the store bought gift (which by the way doesn't last) instead of the ultimate gift (that last for eternity). God loves us so much that He gave us His one and only Son...... so that we could have eternal life - John 3:16

Every year we prepare a banquet in His Honor, food, drinks (non alcohol of course) deserts and a cake, many are invited to take part in this celebration. I can't explain the JOY I feel just preparing the food and everything, just waiting for the GUEST OF HONOR to arrive. You know, I actually start worrying a bit, I start wondering, will He be pleased this year. I want everything to be just perfect for when He shows up. We actually sing Happy Birthday to Jesus after dinner. We want Him to know that it's all about Him and nothing else. He is the one that is important and we just want to celebrate HIM!!!

You know, it's funny every year when I go buy the cake I tell the baker please write Happy Birthday Jesus and the person looks at me and says oh is it your son's birthday or who is that, your son? I tell the baker, no this cake is for Jesus the on who gave His life for me. The one that loves me more than anyone in this world, and it's funny because when I say that the baker just looks at me and says Wow I get it. Sometimes we just forget.

I was blessed not so long ago when Krys (for those of you that don't know she is the youngest of our daughters who is in the Navy) asked us to send her a care package with all the ingredients I use for Christmas Dinner. She went on to explain that she was going to cook since she will not be able to come home on leave, but what truly blessed me was when she motioned that she told her friends that they had to buy a birthday cake for Jesus because this is what her parents do. We celebrate Jesus........what an awesome Blessing that was.

So this year before buying that gift, think about Celebrating Jesus!!