All I want for Christmas...

It is now less than 48 hours from Christmas, and I really expected that by now I'd be in the Christmas Spirit. I finally got a chance to go off by myself to do some shopping yesterday and while we are just about ready - I'm not....ready for Christmas, I mean.

The tree is up - has been since the week of Thanksgiving. Lights are up outside - I will admit that day felt a bit excitement for Christmas coming. The house is somewhat decorated...it was clean but that is such a temporary state it changes in seconds. So how come I still don't feel like it's Christmas?

I could blame it on our weather in the South. Yesterday it was borderline hot with a storm rolling in that reminded me of hurricane season. Today is a bit colder; but as always, the primary color outside is simply brown. Boring, dull, brown. In other words, it doesn't feel like Christmas. Not that I want snow. Down here, if we get snow it brings everything to a screeching halt and it doesn't last long enough to really do anything other than make a mess. Still, all of that can't be blamed for my lack of enthusiasm for Christmas.

To be very honest, I'm looking forward to the New Year a lot more than I am to Christmas. The New Year means a chance to start over and get it right this time...or at least closer to "right". The New Year offers hope of the past year being over (thank HEAVENS!) and getting a brand new year to start fresh. I love getting a new calendar and looking at the days that are printed there, imagining that this year will be the one that is better...this year I will finally get it right...this year my dreams will come true. Christmas just means a reminder of how much I messed up the year I was given. I didn't save enough money, didn't finally get things organized, didn't spend the time with my family I'd hoped to...didn't, didn't, didn't.

When did Christmas become this for me? I'm not sure because, to be honest, if anything marks a chance for a new beginning, it's Christmas!

On that very first Christmas, God sent His Son to give us a second chance. He had given us all that could be hoped for, and it had been thrown away with a lie that there was more to be had. Oh, there was more - more pain, more frustration, more death. Now He sent His Son to give us life abundantly. He gave His Son so that we could have a brand new start.

So saying all that, I've finally decided what I really want for Christmas. I want a calendar - one that reminds me that it's not the new year that brings hope and new beginnings. It is a small baby in a manger who came from heaven to make a way for me to follow. Christmas isn't so much about gifts from the mall, (or the kitchen for all you who have been blessed with homemaking skills); it's about the gift that came to set me free. It's not about the lights on the house, (which look pretty cool, I must say); it's about the light in the heavens that guided the wise men to a place of hope. It's not about the food I prepare, (thank heavens! I'm a lousy cook!); it's about the feast He has prepared for my soul. It's not about the songs or the movies or even snow.... Christmas is about a new beginning. Behold, the old has gone, the new has come.

Merry Christmas dear friends...I think I've already gotten what I really wanted this year.

2 Corinthians 5:17

New International Version (NIV)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Isaiah 43:19

New International Version (NIV)

See, I am doing a new thing!
   Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
   and streams in the wasteland.

Revelation 21:1-5

New International Version (NIV)

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

 ⁵ He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”