MY CHRISTMAS HEART

I haven’t been on the blog lately. Holiday comings and goings at a brisk pace with kids visiting and finalizing all the Christmas prep have consumed so much of my day time.  However, I have thought and prayed for you guys much in these last several days.  Christmastime is so special for me.  Memories flood my recollection.  Vintage Christmases, 1960’s type, of toys, wagons, dolls and goodies under the tree, bleary-eyes transformed into eyes agape with wonder, my own kids thrilled to this day to give and receive gifts…these are what make it so special. 

I’ve been contemplating gift giving…small wonder in this Christmas season of giving.  I love giving gifts. The joy of anticipation, seeing delight on the face of the recipient charges me up! I wiggle and giggle and can barely contain myself when I know the gift will be appreciated. Don’t you just love your kids’ faces and peals of laughter, your spouses’ kiss and your friends’ hugs when they love the gift you have given?

I stayed on budget this year.  Yes, that is a fact.  It is a “smallish” Christmas.  We have cut way back on gift giving for Christmas morning but promise the family a week at the beach come summer time, God willing.  Our family enjoys such bounty. It struck me, on the way home from my last quest for gifts and finally finishing, that the relative size of what appears under the Christmas tree has changed.  It is smaller than in years past. Yet in comparison to many, we have copious resource for gift giving.  Then, I thought about what God the Father gave to Mankind: His only Son, innocent of every fault, to take the punishment for sin. I pondered what Jesus, the Son gave to do the will of the Father. 

“He made Himself nothing taking on the very nature of a servant….he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross!” Phil 2: 7-8

 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9

What have I given? What have I done? How have I responded to the gift God Almighty gave to me? Never to repay, but to show gratitude, I show a puny obedience that wavers at best.

But, here is a quote that I just found in a Christmas card…” He became what we are that He might make us what He is.” From The Incarnation of the Word. Athanasius, c. 296-373 AD.

Even my giving is made possible by Him.  Providence alone gives so that I can give. The immeasurable gifts of love, goodness, kindness, mercy are all by His Spirit. His continual gift of the Holy Spirit indwelling me, makes it possible for me to give. 

So, if you haven’t received a wrapped up gift from me, know that God’s gift is at work in me. I hope to bless you with it. It is all I have to give back to Him and to you.

Blessed and joyous Christmas!