Christmas is my favorite holiday. Hands down.
I am crazy about the snow, the ridiculous Christmas traditions, and pretending there is still a real Santa out there. I can’t get enough of Christmas music and movies, drinking hot chocolate in front of the fire, ugly sweater parties, and hanging up Christmas lights. Most people think simple things like this are insignificant… and they’re right. They are. But I still enjoy those stupid little insignificant details… as meaningless as they may be.
Even though I like these little dispensable holiday staples, by no means would I define Christmas with or without them.
Christmas is beyond gingerbread houses and candy canes… it’s about LOVE.
I’m sure most people have seen the movie Love Actually. It just so happens to be one of my favorite movies… go figure, right? (Christmas, Hugh Grant, AND love? Triple Whammy!) Well, I think the writers were really catching on to significant holiday meaning when they were forming that script. “Love really is all around…” Saying Christmas is about love is probably one of the most cliché things a person may ever hear… but it’s true.
Christmas is about spending time with and remembering loved ones. It’s about family and friends. For me, my family and friends mean more than I can put into words. My parents, my two older sisters, and my two brothers-in-law are some of the most important people in my life. Sure, we’re a normal family and we bicker and argue, but I don’t think any dispute could ever truly come between us…and for that, I am BLESSED. They have supported me my entire life… even when I make stupid decisions like deciding to go to Creighton to get my art major. They are goofy, make stupid jokes, and sometimes really get on my nerves… but no one can EVER take their place. As for friends, they are all families to me as well. My Creighton family, My Gamma Phi Beta family, my Curtis Family (a special shout out to my “wife” and three daughters), my Encounter Family, my Education Department family, my D-Group family, my Stonebridge family, my NCC family (even though I don’t even GO to that school), my Coram Deo family, my Lake Forest/Lake Bluff family, my Christ Church family, and my LFHS family. I am seriously one of the luckiest girls in the world to have SO many people who care for me and support me. You… reading this… right now… KNOW that you play an IRREPLACEABLE role in my life. Whether we talked today or haven’t talked in years… I love you. You are important and I am sorry I don’t show or tell you that enough. I’m sorry it takes tragedies or holidays for people, especially me, to tell you that, but you are SO loved. Thank you for being in my life and reading my blog. It means more than I can verbally express… **CYBER HUG!**
Okay, as much as I want to just rave on about how great my family and friends are, Christmas is about more than you and I and the love between us… but it’s about Love.
Love in the truest sense of the word. Love beyond simple signs of affection. Love that stretches past the holiday season. Love in true giving. Love that is radiated from the One who IS Love.
Love in absolute, pure sacrifice.
God the Father, Jesus our Savior = Love.
Love saw when man disobeyed Him, and He was saddened. Love saw Sin, and was Just so that His reign would triumph. Love wants a relationship with us, so He sent His Son to earth on that Christmas Day. He was fully aware that His Son, perfect in all ways, would have to die for our Sin, but was willing for this to happen so we could have life. Love wants us to experience what love really means, so He set the table for us. It’s about HIM. It’s about the greatest gift on could EVER be given. By this Christmas gift and the sacrifice that came with it, Love wanted us to learn how unimportant and insignificant our glory is. Love wanted us to Love Him and have a relationship with Him. Love loves love and loves us. (Okay, now I feel like I am just getting confusing).
Like I said… Christmas is all about Love. NOT us.
Many people may love (with a lower case ‘l’) a lot of things… but it is Love (with a capital ‘L’) that has transformed me. It is Love that has forever changed the world… and changes my heart every day. It is Love that LOVES me for exactly who I am. It is Love that makes my heart desire something greater. It is Love that calls for justice, goodness, grace, and mercy all over the world. It is Love that calls us back… to learn and live in Love (agape). It is Love that will one day transform this world that is so absent of love. It is Love that helps me understand what it TRULY means to love… it is where my heart lies.
Am I placing my heart in all these Christmas traditions and the things that may sometimes I feel “define” Christmas or love? Or, am I freely and openly giving my heart to Love because I know the truth about the ultimate Christmas gift and the LOVE that was behind it all along? I hope the latter.
But, not gonna lie, I really hope there is snow and hot chocolate in Heaven…
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