The Gift of Family
Since Thanksgiving, I have had many conversations about what people were going to buy their loved ones for Christmas and how they were going to celebrate. I love and struggle having those conversations with people. I love them because it is an opportunity to connect with people and to hear what is on their minds and in their hearts, but I struggle with them too, because I am in a season of life where I can feel my heart break for those that are not here, specifically my dad.
This year was the third Christmas without him, each year has been different, and has been a learning experience for me. This year was different for two reasons: first, I decided to donate my Christmas decorations; of course, the exception being my first nativity and a handful of ornaments that were gifted to me. I didn’t buy new decorations and I didn’t set up a Christmas tree or anything like that. If you visited my house, you would think it was not Christmastime.
My biggest takeaways from removing the Christmas decorations from my house were: first, I knew the person that I donated them to, and she shared with me how much fun she had going through everything and decorating her own home with her roommates. It brought so much joy to my heart to know that while I was struggling, I was also doing things for other people that brought them joy, and God gifted me with the knowledge of knowing this. Also, when it comes to my mental health, decluttering and giving away things I know I will not use gives me a sense of calmness that sometimes can be difficult to find.
Second, I decided to focus on the spiritual aspect of Christmas, not the secular part of it. I wanted to dig deeper into the meaning of what Advent and Christmas were all about. I grew in my appreciation of waiting for Christ’s birth and the second coming of Jesus.
My biggest takeaways from focusing on the spiritual aspect of Christmas and Advent and not the secular part of it included: less stress when it came to shopping, buying and wrapping gifts and I was able to focus on Jesus.
Words can’t describe the depth of everything that he did and continues to do for us. Also, it helped me to realize what was important during the holiday season, family. My family does not just consist of my mom, dad, brother, etc. These are the people that love me for who I am and love me like Jesus loves, unconditionally, and those that I love unconditionally too. Jesus gave his life for us and took our sins so far away that we never have to worry about them again.
We have the ability to be filled with the unconditional love of Jesus, our job is to share the unconditional love with everyone we meet, sometimes it just requires that we get out of the way and let God be God.
In the new year, I plan to work harder to love deeper and more unconditionally like Jesus. I want my struggles to give me opportunities to show Jesus’ love and I want to embrace the love that other people show me in a deeper way than I ever have before. I pray that the same happens to you.
Always remember: Everything is possible with God (Matthew 19:26 NLT) and God loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16 CSB).