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Most of you know I’m kind of Christmas challenged.
So I decided it was time to talk to God about this.
God, why do I always turn into The
Grinch this time of year?
Why do I always want to avoid
giving gifts? I know I’m cheap but there’s got to be more to it than that.
Why do I always want to go on
vacation and come back after New Years?
Suddenly, it all came back to me…
How the Snowman stole my Christmas spirit.
Years ago, I was coordinating Mexico mission trips for my
church. What were they thinking? I know! I must have really hidden my cray-cray tendencies. It
was definitely a humbling and growing experience. Anyways, this particular
year, I wanted to do a craft with the children. I’m not a crafter so I selected
something from the “Crafting for Dummies” guidebook. Miracle of miracles, the
snowman was a hit! None of the snowman looked like the picture above, but there
was such genuine joy and gratitude that went into each one that you would
have thought we’d given the children a priceless treasure. We even ran out of
socks until the church volunteers started taking off their own socks so no child
would go without. The children didn't complain about the stinky socks. They were
just grateful to receive one. Amazing! We topped off the day serving
lunch, playing soccer, a piñata, and finally handing out a wrapped present for
each child. It was probably the best trip ever!
Overcome with good cheer and joy, I wanted to pass on this
feeling to my family. So for Christmas, I decided to gift them each a snowman.
Well, “A Relative Who Shall Remain Nameless” took one look at the thing and
started throwing it across the room like a football. The entire family got in
on the joke and started laughing. As I watched in embarrassment and indignation
my snowman flying across the room, I declared loudly, “I will NEVER craft
again!”
I know that this relative was just joking around. He only
saw the value of worthless sock stuffed with cotton. In retrospect, I realized
that what I was hoping to share was not a cute snowman, but the Spirit of
Christmas I had experienced on that mission trip. My hurt and disappointment resulted
not from their rejection of a sock snowman, but in their rejection of the
Spirit in which the snowman was offered.
I think that’s why I stress so much when it comes to this
time of year. I’ll rack my brain trying to come up with a perfect gift that
will somehow share the True Spirit of Christmas when really The Perfect Gift
has already been given. God has given The Perfect Gift – His Son Jesus. I can’t
force the “Christmas Spirit” onto people. And just like I can’t give the
perfect gift, I can’t accept it on their behalf either. God’s Gift is uniquely, lovingly packaged, and delivered to each person individually. It has to be a
private exchange between God and the individual. Each person has free will to
accept the gift or throw God’s precious gift away. So my prayer is may we
never forget the value of The Gift and may we know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God the Father has given each of us the best Christmas Gift of all.
For a Child has been born - for us!
The gift of a Son - for us!
The government will be upon His shoulders.
And He will be
called:
Wonderful
Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
His government and
its peace will never end.
For God so loved the world,
For God so loved the world,
that he gave his
only Son,
that who ever believes in him
should not perish
but have eternal life.
For the wages of
sin is death,
but the FREE GIFT
of God
is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
But to all who
received and accepted
HIM
He gave the right
to become children of God.
Merry Christmas!
Love,
Yolanda
Isaiah 9:6 (MSG, NLT), John 3:16 (ESV), Romans 6:23 (ESV),
John 1:12 (NLT)
