Women's Focus Ministries

 

Tuesday's Devotional 1/8/13....

 

Post-Christmas Thoughts 2012

I just couldn’t get into the Christmas spirit in 2012.  I participated in more activities and merriment than in past years, including a trip to Union Square in San Francisco with a close friend; a trip on the Napa Wine Train with dear friends from Palmdale; an Operation Christmas Child shoebox packing party; the annual Women’s luncheon at church where I co-hosted a table; three Christmas parties at work; our annual Bible study Christmas party; dinners out with friends; a visit from my husband’s youngest daughter and family from Washington state; and a last minute trip to Bethlehem Town (replicated downtown).  We traditionally spend Christmas Eve with our daughter’s family in Clayton; and then lay low on Christmas Day.  Close friends across town invited us to Christmas dinner, followed up with a trip to the movies to see Les Miserables Christmas night.  Packed into all of this I was working full time, Christmas shopping (and wrapping), baking, and decorating the house. I enjoyed all of these activities immensely, but something was missing. 

Despite all of these “fun” Christmas things, I felt like Christmas was happening all around me, that I was on the outside looking in, watching it slide by diorama style. I kept trying to jump into the spirit, yet I remained disconnected. I was piling on more and more activities, thinking that the switch would get turned on; but in the end exhaustion won out over joy. 

Maybe we think that the busier we are the happier we’ll be.  We wear ourselves out to a point of not feeling anything—we become robotic.  From Thanksgiving through New Year’s, we are in such a flurry of activity that we can really miss the Reason for the Season.

It makes me wonder what God thinks about all of it.  It’s supposed to be a birthday party for His Son.  The gifts are supposed to go to Jesus.  Gifts of forgiving each other, laughter, encouragement, kindness, and time spent with Him.  Isn’t that how the custom of gift giving at Christmas got started—as a reminder of the gifts of the Magi to the Son of God?  According to the internet, gift giving got its start before the birth of Christ, during the rule of Emperor Caligula of Rome (and if it’s on the internet, it must be true – right?).   

If this sounds cynical, I apologize.  It’s not meant to be.  Many of us have seen Christmas morph into what it is today, from a time when shopping began no earlier than December 10^th, and Thanksgiving enjoyed its own holiday (it wasn’t a part of the Christmas season).  Yet it seemed like Christmas week lasted forever.  We only got one week off school where I grew up, but somehow less was more. 

I think most of us would like to get back to a simpler Holiday season; a time spent with friends and family; a time of sharing and caring for one another.  We all have enough “stuff”, what we really need is to be hugged by Christ’s Holy Spirit.  Each day is a new gift from God.  He unwraps the night with the glory of a brilliant sunrise.  He fills the earth with the sweetness of songbirds and the fragrance of new birth.  What more do we really need?

 

Lord, help me to let go of the busyness of life and spend more time with You.  I am hungry for your presence, and sometimes feel a little left behind.  I want to catch up to You, but it seems like something is always getting in between us.  I long to just sit at Your feet and feel Your hand resting on my head as You whisper, “Relax, My daughter, let Me handle this day”.  Amen.

Written by Paula Glauber