Externally Processing My Way Through Life

Final Christmas thoughts:

I must admit prior to this year, I haven't quite gotten the big deal about Christmas, don't get me wrong it's a great day to celebrate Jesus and all, but I've never really understood why it was such a big deal. I mean Easter is the day we celebrate our ability to have salvation and the sacrifice Christ made to pave the way for it, why don't we take a whole month to celebrate that? Isn't that what it's really about?

I think I'm getting it this year. Maybe it's because of some of the things we've been exposed to this year: 2 couples we are close to being on the brink of divorce, a pastor I adore having a brain tumor removed and finding out it was cancer, having several of our family members having extended hospital stays due to life threatening issues, friends who are hurting, friends who are dealing with infertility, job losses, finance issues... the list could go on and on. It's been a rough year, not necessarily in our own lives, but our exposure to it in others.

Which I think sometimes is just as difficult because you feel so helpless to do anything.

Anyhow, being in close proximity to an overwhelming amount of helping people this year has reawakened my senses to how foreign this place is. It's NOT home, and no matter how hard we try there will never be any level of perfect achieved here on earth. This life is rough, and we are surviving it to get HOME and to get to the good part.

Thinking of how hard this place is for me leaves me astounded at Christ coming into it.

He was LORD, King of All, angels bowed at his feet and He had close fellowship with God and the Holy Spirit. Communion like I have never known. He left it all, and came here. HERE. He spent nine (10 if we're getting technical : ) months in a womb that was probably a sanctuary compared to earth.

My mind cannot fathom the culture shock, not to mention the mourning for home. The closest thing I come up with as a comparison is for us willingly going to hell, and living there for 33 years.

So this Christmas I have a whole gratitude for what Christ did in coming to earth. This time of year the term "humbled" gets thrown around, but that is what He did, humbled himself. For us. For me.

Emmanuel- God is with us. Then, and now. That is most certainly a reason to worship!

Merry Christmas!