Are You Ready for Christmas?
A common question we ask at work and with our friends "Are you ready for Christmas?". I'm not exactly sure what the question implies. I know that the folks ready for Christmas always answer "I have been for a while" and the rest of us say with an 'ugh' "Oh man, I still need to shop". Either way, no one is actually ready for the two weeks leading up to Christmas because everything speeds up big time and before you know it it's Christmas Eve and we are all completely exhausted.
Every year for me we prepare and plan later and later right up to the week of Christmas; I've shopped many Christmas Eve for gifts. All of our neighbors have their Christmas lights glowing (only sign of Christmas in AZ) and we just say "too much work" and enjoy our pagan-looking house night after night. Tons of people are at the mall shopping and we are home cleaning and resting and hanging out as if it's just another weekend. People are frantically decorating and already preparing food for the big day. Lots of Christmas cards go out in the mail today all around the world. And what are we doing, nothing! Absolutely non-Christmas nothing.
It's not that I don't care but something in the back of my small mind is saying to me "it's just another day, it's not about doing what everyone is doing, it's not about all the shopping and the gifts and the busy warry-ness of the Holidays". I think for us/me it's truly about being around each other and enjoying the time where people let down their hair a little more each year and spend a little more time with each other. Do I like gifts? Sure. Do I love to give gifts? Absolutely. But I never want to get to the point where Christmas becomes more about preparation than connection.
For me the Holidays mean something a little deeper. First the remembrance that at 'some point' throughout the year 2000 years ago Christ was born, in a barn, in Bethlehem and it was a GLORIOUS moment in history. God spoke to men, literally and physically, and fulfilled promises that people had been waiting on for many many years. Then I remember the more challenging parts of the story; like when his Mom had to accept the fact that mankind would mame and kill him. That he would be beat and tortured and ultimately hung on a man-made cross for all men to mock and for a handful to bow their knee to (someday we ALL will bow our knee; thanks for the reminder this year Steve C). The Christmas story as a 'whole' story is very sad to me. It's more about loss at times. Fortunately in the end it's a Victory story filled with amazing changes in man for thousands of years to come. That's the first thing I think about at Christmas.
Then I think about the past and all the times around family past. The grandparents who have passed and the cousins who only hung out when we were younger and the sights and sounds of Christmas past that meant so much growing up. Everything seemed home-made (with an emphasis on home!)
Then there's now. I'm sorry folks but I really don't care about all the emotional hoopla of Christmas, all the preparations and the food and parties. What I really care about are a few days off, special and extra time with my family, some time with friends that I crave and a little extra time to read and sleep. Although the days are short throughout the year, the year is long and I'm exhausted at the end of it. This year I work at a Bank and so we close on Friday at 3PM and reopen on Monday AM. BUT this WILL be a special weekend. Christ WAS born. I love my family. I appreciate my friends. I'm always READY for Christmas! Until next time...
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_VanHoogstraat
Every year for me we prepare and plan later and later right up to the week of Christmas; I've shopped many Christmas Eve for gifts. All of our neighbors have their Christmas lights glowing (only sign of Christmas in AZ) and we just say "too much work" and enjoy our pagan-looking house night after night. Tons of people are at the mall shopping and we are home cleaning and resting and hanging out as if it's just another weekend. People are frantically decorating and already preparing food for the big day. Lots of Christmas cards go out in the mail today all around the world. And what are we doing, nothing! Absolutely non-Christmas nothing.
It's not that I don't care but something in the back of my small mind is saying to me "it's just another day, it's not about doing what everyone is doing, it's not about all the shopping and the gifts and the busy warry-ness of the Holidays". I think for us/me it's truly about being around each other and enjoying the time where people let down their hair a little more each year and spend a little more time with each other. Do I like gifts? Sure. Do I love to give gifts? Absolutely. But I never want to get to the point where Christmas becomes more about preparation than connection.
For me the Holidays mean something a little deeper. First the remembrance that at 'some point' throughout the year 2000 years ago Christ was born, in a barn, in Bethlehem and it was a GLORIOUS moment in history. God spoke to men, literally and physically, and fulfilled promises that people had been waiting on for many many years. Then I remember the more challenging parts of the story; like when his Mom had to accept the fact that mankind would mame and kill him. That he would be beat and tortured and ultimately hung on a man-made cross for all men to mock and for a handful to bow their knee to (someday we ALL will bow our knee; thanks for the reminder this year Steve C). The Christmas story as a 'whole' story is very sad to me. It's more about loss at times. Fortunately in the end it's a Victory story filled with amazing changes in man for thousands of years to come. That's the first thing I think about at Christmas.
Then I think about the past and all the times around family past. The grandparents who have passed and the cousins who only hung out when we were younger and the sights and sounds of Christmas past that meant so much growing up. Everything seemed home-made (with an emphasis on home!)
Then there's now. I'm sorry folks but I really don't care about all the emotional hoopla of Christmas, all the preparations and the food and parties. What I really care about are a few days off, special and extra time with my family, some time with friends that I crave and a little extra time to read and sleep. Although the days are short throughout the year, the year is long and I'm exhausted at the end of it. This year I work at a Bank and so we close on Friday at 3PM and reopen on Monday AM. BUT this WILL be a special weekend. Christ WAS born. I love my family. I appreciate my friends. I'm always READY for Christmas! Until next time...
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_VanHoogstraat
posted by global take off at
12:24 AM
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