Merry Christmas!

It’s officially December, and at my house we say Merry Christmas! I realize that not everyone celebrates Christmas, and this time of year may bring more pain than happiness depending on your past and current events. For me personally it will always be merry as long as Jesus is Lord.

As a child growing up I always viewed Christmas like winning the lottery or something. We would go from begging for snickers bars at grocery stores to all of a sudden opening up a $100 gift or two. As a child with no income that was always an amazing feeling.

Now that I’m older, I’ve learned each year that the reason it’s a great time of year has nothing to do with what’s under the tree, and nothing to do with my personal expectations being met each year. It’s really about remembering the one who hung on the tree, and 3 days later rose from the dead. Jesus is the reason we have any hope at all, and the cross was and is the deepest form of love every shown. If you haven’t ever experienced the deep love of God, then I encourage you to be vulnerable enough to pray regardless of your current beliefs. If you are someone who thinks the whole message is foolishness (see 1 Corinthians 1:18) then I encourage you to dig deeper in the history and archeology around the writings of Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John before writing it off.

Finally, I want to encourage every reader regardless of beliefs to make this a season of love and giving. If you can help out a friend or neighbor then please do so! If you’re the one needing help then don’t be shy about asking and looking for opportunities!