Worship NOW! | Joyful Proclamation

Rejoice, glad tidings to all on Earth, for today, in the city of Bethlehem, our Savior and King, Jesus Christ the Lord is born!  Never has there been a greater announcement to mankind. And never have greater gifts been given to us by the newborn savior: salvation, grace, mercy, example, love, the Holy Spirit, forgiveness of sin, meaning and purpose to our lives, relationship with the Father restored, dominion over the enemy, just to name a few! How blessed and rich are we? I hope you allow the awesomeness of what happened for us 2,000 years ago fill you to overflowing gratitude, praise, and joy this Christmas season.

As the advent season soon comes to an end, I look to place a greater emphasis upon Christmas Day, with boundaries in place to preserve my heart and attempt to keep the holiday holy. Maybe this is something you should consider? If you do, below are some of my boundaries.  I am NOT suggesting they be yours. Everyone has to set up what will be most helpful for them and their life. 

1. I make plans for how I want to celebrate Christmas Day BEFORE December comes. Broad strokes here - I will either spend it with family, or friends, or choose to have it be an alone, me and Jesus day. It keeps me from worrying all month about what I will do or where I will be on Christmas Day.

   
   

2. I try to never open any presents before Christmas Day. I've done the opening of the gifts as they were delivered by UPS or FedEx because I couldn't wait and curiosity got the better of me. But come Christmas Day, there was nothing left to open. And while I was blessed when I did open the gift, there was a feeling of let down and disappointment when there was nothing to open on Christmas Day. Sad, depressing, and NOT fun.

   
   

3. I do not go to any Christmas parties before the 25th. After the 25th, I'm in and I'll be the one dancing with bells on! This was a difficult decision to make and stick to especially while I was in the working world. I would never attend the office party, and bosses and colleagues were a bit put off by it. But I found the parties centered around drinking and food, drinking and silly games, drinking and bad karaoke, drinking and cheap talk and NOTHING about the party was helpful, fun, or in focus with the reason for the season. In years prior to this decision, I always came away hurt, disappointed, empty, fatter, learning more unseemly tidbits of info about those I worked with, and none of it was good or fun. I can make my own misery without others or meaningless party encounters, so I decided to just keep the season holy for myself no matter what others thought and not attend those soirées.

   
   

4. As for presents, I can be a creative type and as I look at the list of those who get this worship list email, many of you have received one of my prized gifts to give - a real egg, decorated in the Fabergé style. Whether painted, beaded, carved or all three, a little bit of my heart goes into the egg's transformation, and I love knowing that I tangibly gave someone I love a piece of my heart. So creative stuff is my preferred gift give, but sometimes that's not possible, so I try to get stuff during the year that I know the person will like. The challenge becomes "Where did I put it for safe keeping?!"

   
   

5. And then there is the food. I don't know about other nationalities, but Italians make food a centerpiece at EVERY holiday and honestly, I have LOVED THAT because it is delicious!!!! But it works better for group gatherings (and when my mother did all the cooking and baking). It would be crazy to make all the traditional foods for Christmas just for myself now (though there've been years I kind of came close to it) so I will pick one thing I really want and only have that at Christmas be it a cookie, or part of a meal, and let that be enough so I can focus on the real purpose of celebrating Christmas Day.

When it all boils down to the one thing that matters most for Christmas, it is to celebrate that our Beloved stepped down from Heaven as the God Man who came to be with us and save us. He is the truest gift, actually the only gift that ultimately matters. So, as I try to stay in this season of anticipation, and as I anticipate the joy and holiness of Christmas Day, I am glad that all else just fades into the background noise, becoming the hum of life going on with all the necessary things we all have to do. I find it becoming clearer, here in this Advent season, that my truest desire, what I want most, is to be closer to him, to know him more fully than I do right now, and to be more useful to him. 

All I really want, all I really need for Christmas, is more of Jesus. Hoping in the midst of this Advent waiting season, you'll find he is all you really want as well.

May God bless you abundantly this season and into the next new year. 

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