"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."
There was something about this verse that reminded me of Christmas. Perhaps the mention of the perfect gift or maybe the reference to lights. Shifting shadows could easily have been shifting snows and there we'd picture a wintery scene. Amazing how reading scripture time and time again gives us different imagery and meaning.
This year I've struggled with preparing for the holidays, more specifically, preparing for what many refer to as Christmas. I say it this way because I've been preparing my heart for Christmas but not in the way the commercial world markets it. I have no issues with the retail world or even all the great celebrations of giving, sharing and lighting up the world just a bit adding beauty to the often white backdrop of winter. We can honestly take a look at each of these things and see their positive contributions, although not always intentional, in the celebration of the greatest birth that has occurred on earth, the birth of Christ.
I recently had posted to Facebook that I just wasn't feeling the inner child in me that usually appears this time of year. Decorating the house, trimming the tree, purchasing gifts and baking treats. This year instead I looked at all of that as WORK and not work that I wanted to do. I have some amazing people that encouraged me and yes I did get the decorating done and there are even gifts under our tree. I've actually been celebrating Christmas but in a different way this year. I've not focused on finding the perfect gift, for you see we've already received that. I've not focused on stringing the lights because we've already been given the greatest of lights. This Christmas I've been celebrating my Jesus' birth in a personal and deep way.
I was blessed to be part of a group that provided carols to a shopping area adjacent to a live manger scene. There we celebrated our Savior's Birth and were able to share with people who have never heard of Mary, Joseph and the little baby Jesus. I've been preparing for a Christmas celebration coming up in the next couple of weeks that has me reading "The Christmas Story" from Luke and looking forward to sharing in the celebration with dear friends and family. I've spent time with my husband in song which creates such a strong bond between us. That to me is Christmas, the real deal... greatest bargain I will find this season and in any season.
Last night as we finally began decorating our home and putting up the Christmas tree we did our traditional thing and dragged out all of our Christmas movies. Some are funny and some are heart tugging. Something changes in my heart when I watch and listen while decorating, a smile appears knowing that we're blessed to have another year together to carry on traditions. I find I focus more on the blessings that we have and less on the rough times that we've endured or I know lie ahead. Christmas can certainly be magical beyond the commercial aspects of the world.
My favorite Christmas movie is It's a Wonderful Life. It's not the most upbeat movie but it's a bit of a reality check. We can spend so much time dwelling on what we don't have, how our plans didn't quite turn out the way we'd planned them or how everyone else around us seems to be living their dreams so why can't we. Sometimes we're so busy looking around we don't see what's right in front of us and how truly blessed we are. George Bailey had dreams of adventure and exploring the world from youth but life happened and he ended up staying in his hometown, marrying a hometown girl and taking care of the family business. It wasn't his dream and he felt that life had let him down and it wasn't worth living anymore. Who would care if he didn't? What would it matter if he wasn't around? Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever wondered what life would be like for those you've encountered along life's journey if they had never had you? You have no idea the impact you've made to someone's world. George Bailey sure got an eye opener when Clarence, Angel Second Class, took him on a stroll of what life would have been like for those he envied of escaping Bedford Falls. He was reminded how wealthy he was in that he had love all around him and there isn't anything out there in life that can compare to that. Every year I cry at the same point in the movie when reading the inscription that Clarence writes to George in the book, Adventures of Tom Sawyer,
"Dear George: Remember no man is a failure who has friends. Thanks for the wings! Love Clarence."
It really is a wonderful life when you have been given the gift that we have. Christmas is love and that love exists because of the great gift born to us that blessed day. A wonderful life doesn't mean a perfect, everything goes our way life but it's wonderful because we had a baby born in a manger, sent to earth to save man from himself. We have a wonderful life because that same man died on a wooden cross to make our sins as white as the shifting snow. Count yourself blessed if you have one person in life that you can call friend, because Christ calls you friend and he lifts you up on angel wings to carry you through the hardest parts of life because He really loves you that much.
Who can you lift up today to give them wings to fly? Who needs to hear the story of a little babe born in a manger and who ultimately died on a cross? His life wasn't easy, but his life was wonderful in that it saved you and I. One life truly does matter and God has purposed your life from before you were born to be a friend to others as a light of hope and love.
Thanks for the Wings,
Heather
