'Tis the Season

I love Christmas music.  I love the smell of my freshly purchased Christmas tree.  I love the lights, and the stockings and the snowmen, and the angels.  I listened to Christmas music on my computer today at school- all day- during all of my classes.  I'm not sure we even accomplished anything, but we are all in the Christmas spirit. 

Last night, we decorated the tree and house.  Taking a picture of three kids in front of the tree is challenging...

I totally dig my tree.  It's got all white lights, and it's uniform and has a particular number of ornaments and it is perfectly wonderful. 

However, when I was decorating my home, I realized that this was all I had left of my Nativity Set...

but, I guess that's the only part that truly matters.  If you've ever had a baby, you know that love and hope you feel when you hold him for the first time.  You know the gooey mess they are, and the way their fingers curl around one of yours.  You understand how one tiny look melts your heart and how sending them to the nursery for a bath inflicts heartache and a yearn for them to return to your side.  Have you ever been around sheep?  They're dumb, dumb, dumb, and they don't smell all that great.  Hay is itchy, and donkeys are obnoxiously loud.  Cows are big and cranky and horses kick.  How's that for a delivery room?  No epidural, no soap, no gloves, and here you are giving birth to the savior of the world- one who would eventually die for the sins of you and the rest of humanity.  Can you imagine giving birth to a Son who is sentenced to death?  This Christmas season I encourage you to take advantage of what's already been sacrificed for you and yours- invite Jesus to be a part of your holiday and everyday.  When you hug a baby, imagine the hope that Mary felt and the loss she encountered when she saw him nailed to a cross.  When you open a gift, take a moment to feel the security of the greatest gift of all- that of love, hope, and forgiveness.  Don't forget the sacrifice given in your honor and the conquering of life over death and in it the promise of eternal life.  For in Christmas, in Christ, in love- there is HOPE.  The gifts have been given.  Everything else is stuff.