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December 7th, 2009
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!
It is becoming increasingly more difficult to button and zip my jeans ... after all that turkey, the trimmings, the DESSERT table!! Christmas is just around the corner and I can smell the cinnamon buns and hot chocolate — maybe I should just wear sweatpants until after the New Year!
What is your favorite part of the Christmas season? I think our favorites change as we get older and move away from our families. I think it's the little things about our individual traditions that we like to hold onto and look forward to the most! For me ... it was Christmas Morning! My older brother and I slept in the same room on Christmas Eve ... originally we shared a room, but later we would drag a sleeping bag into the same room to spend Christmas Eve. This was devised so that if one of us got up in the morning, the other would awaken and no one would get "the drop" on the presents under the tree. He and I would tip-toe to the living room and quietly take every present out from under the tree and divide them into two stacks. One for Him. One for Me. We would count the presents and compare sizes ... the winner got gloating rights — the loser hoped for more valuable gifts! We put them back under the tree and proceeded to wake up our parents ... as if they were none the wiser! I could have definitely benefited from Kristy Wakefield's latest article, The Weight of Waiting, which reminds us that with every season in life comes the need for patience.
What are you doing to remind yourselves of the Real Reason for the Season? It is incredibly important to re-focus on Christ during the Holidays because now is the time we want to save money to buy presents and cash in vacation time to spend with loved ones!! I would challenge you to sacrifice that time and money to glorify Christ and meditate on His example. Check out Crucified with Christ, an article written by Serena Butler that takes a look into the heart of Paul and the sacrifice of our Savior.
Christmas is the season of giving and while often times we think of giving materially or monetarily, perhaps there are people in our lives who would benefit from other gifts. Forgiveness is an essential part of walking the Christian walk, start taking steps by using the second chapter of our 7 Sides Bible Study, Forgiveness. And of course there is always the question of what to do for the holidays. See what the Consider Lily girls have to say in Reconsidering — No Place Like Home ... Or is There.
I hope that each of you is excited to take a break from 500 page text books, labs, exams, and essays ... use this time to re-group and re-focus. I hope your Christmas and New Year is unforgettable and full of new traditions dedicated to serving the Lord!!
God Bless and we'll see ya next year,
p.s. If you want, you can pass this note to a friend.
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