Christmas Holiday

I don't know about you, but each year I find myself approaching the month of December "with my feet on the brakes." The dark days sneak in on you, pulling you into slumber, making it harder to get out of bed in the mornings, but also making it easier to excuse yourself for earlier bedtimes. The daytime seems to evaporate like a water drop on a hot skillet. Ironically, we try to counter this typical pattern of less daylight with more stuff, more activities, and more things. We cannot even enjoy one holiday without another one being shoved upon us. In fact the end of the year for most folks tends to be one of just a blurred frenzy. . .

A I started out on my bike ride, the crisp air seemed to oil and stretch the tight muscles in my legs. Soon I was at my usual pace, and singing in my head, the Moriah Peters song "I choose Jesus, I choose Jesus, the One who first chose me. . ." My eyes were filling up with the colors of tree leaves, gold, orange, red, and crimson. Christmas decorations too were being stuck on houses and lawns. As I went up hill, still singing and sweating, I came upon a yard so full of "inflatables" that the house could hardly be seen. It is one of those mansion type homes stuck behind a wrought iron gate, a yard that usually is empty of people, but well manicured and kept. The multiple Santa's, snowmen, elves, critters, and "stuff" seemed so out of place. Even the trees did not escape from having to participate, as decorations blew in the breeze. I don't think you could have packed anymore into one yard . . .

The song in my head grew louder. I pondered how Christmas has been condensed into a "holiday of inflatables," so many that you can't even glimpse the usual, the ordinary, the simple. The basis for Christmas is not stuff or endless activities or shopping, but a celebration of just a simple, holy birth. When are we going to get it?

I'm not boycotting Christmas. I will bake some extra treats, still write my Christmas cards, spend time with special friends, and still serve up my oyster stew Christmas Eve tradition. But I am appreciating today, right now for one more day of grace and life, from the One that I have chosen. My heart is complete because of the gift of Christ, I don't need to "get into the Christmas mood" or fill my house and yard with glittery decorations. No, I'm pausing, stopping, bowing before the One, Jesus, who first chose me . . .

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Mary's Heartbeats

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