The Holidays?

It sure didn't feel like the holidays around here. Not to say some fun things didn't happen. For instance, we moved into our new house the day before New Years and spent New Years Eve enjoying the feeling of being HOME! But still, it sure didn't feel like Christmas at all. I realized that all the cues that tell you Christmas is approaching don't exist here. There is no weather that is getting colder, it actually gets hotter. No snow. No lights on the houses, no decorations, no holiday music, Christmas programs or concerts. The kids had a hard time this Christmas. There were tears because we did not have a Christmas tree, and it just didn't feel like Christmas. We all missed family and friends. We missed traditions that we love. But it got me to thinking; what should the celebration of Christmas look like? I know we always talk about the meaning of Christmas, that it is about Jesus coming as a baby. Yet I can't remember a lot of talk about what a true celebration of that birth might look like. We seem to say it is about Jesus, and then promptly talk about what we want for Christmas, what Christmas concert we want to see, what we will eat, etc. It seems it is a lot about us. I wonder what would happen if it were our birthday and all of the guests came and told us what gifts they wanted to get for our birthday, what they wanted to eat, what they wanted to do at the party. That would seem pretty backwards, wouldn't it? Yet it seems to me that is what we do on Jesus' birthday. It is all about what we want. And how disappointed we are if Christmas isn't all we hoped it would be, maybe we didn't get the special gift we wanted... I wonder what Jesus wants for his birthday? What would he want the day to look like? How would it change things if he were actually sitting there in person and we were to celebrate his birthday. It seems to me it would be a bit awkward to keep things like we usually do them. Kind of like we were ignoring him...like it is all about us and not him. So maybe it was a good thing that it didn't feel like Christmas this year. Because if it had, if we had all of the usual decorations, programs, presents, I might not have ever asked the question "What would Jesus want to do for his birthday?" I can't say I have the answer to that. But I do intend to think about it this year. And hopefully by next Christmas I will have a better idea of whose birthday it really is, and how he might want it celebrated. Stay tuned for next December! Love, Kim