Ho Ho Oy!

Christmas time is a time of peace on earth and good will toward men...unless I'm stuck in line at the malls! Then, I am neither in a peaceful mood nor do I have very much good will toward ..... anybody!

It's really all my doing, of course. I'll get distracted at the malls decked with glittery lights and decorations ...and the sales signs...and "buy one for me and one for you". Where'd all my money go? Or I may wait to shop at the last minute and then I'm frantically scrambling over the left-overs. But mostly, it's psychological turmoil because there are special people in my life I want to shop for, and I just don't always know what to get them!

I can't keep up with the trendy labels or latest games for the nieces and nephews or the technical toys for the young adult kids. Then I have my siblings who, just as baffled as I on what to get each other, find it easier not even to go there so we don't exchange. Then I have the parents....who have everything. Finally, I have the husband who doesn't ask for much, but I have no clue as to what on-line site to go to to shop for his very specific hobbies (which are kinda pricey!)

So, Christmas shopping can be very stressful for me. When I'm shopping, I'm worrying and guessing, and hoping there is still a selection to choose from, I have enough money to buy it, and that it will be something they would really like, or need or something that says how special they are to me.

Thank goodness God is not like me when it comes to Christmas shopping. When you think of it, He invented Christmas shopping. He gave the ultimate gift at that first Christmas. His Son. He knew way ahead of time what it was we needed. He carefully chose the best, the only, gift that would serve His purpose. He knew the cost and it didn't matter. He wanted to show us just how special we are, how much He loved us. And even more than we can ever show to our loved one, just how much we need this gift, because without it , we're eternally separated from Him.

So, when I celebrate Christ's birthday this year, I don't just see a baby in the manger receiving the gifts from the magi, I see the life of someone born specifically to save us. And I gratefully remember who is really receiving the gift at Christmastime.

Randy Travis aptly sums it up in his song, "The Gift":

He was the Son God sent to one and all

put on this earth to hang there on the cross

born to die so we could live

He had the birthday, we got the gift

On the Savior's birthday, we got the gift.

God bless,

jane