The decking the halls is over.
The fa la la la-ing has come to an end.
Radio stations resume their "normal" music (though some may be continuing through tomorrow).
Family gathered and goes back to the working world tomorrow (or Tuesday).
Gifts have been given and received.
Christmas cards have been mailed.
Family photos were taken.
What now? But of course, how could we forget shopping? Tomorrow is, I believe, the second largest shopping day of the year. Stores open back up at around 6 in the morning. Sales begin. Good bargains and good treasures.
But wait! None of that is what Christmas is even about!
Driving home tonight, it kinda dawned on me: Now that Christmas has come and (almost) gone, what is next?
We start decking the halls and preparing our world for Christmas nearly 2 months before the actual day. Christmas comes, and then it is just gone. There is this huge bustle and pressure to "be prepared and ready" for Christmas. We frantically fill out cards and buy gifts for our loved ones. We give more generously to the people standing outside the stores collecting change. We greet and smile at people more. There is a feeling of joy going around. There is a great preparation for the big day! We get so caught up in what the world makes Christmas to be, that we forget the real meaning of Christmas.
Christmas should not be limited to "just today" or "just this season." Christmas is the birth of Christ! He is the core of all Christian's faith! He is the reason we get up in the morning. He is the reason we are forgiven. It is His blood that has redeemed us. It is His blood that allows us to give and to receive, to gather with friends and family. To celebrate this holy season!
Tomorrow we go back to daily routine. We may wait out the 12 days of Christmas and then take down Christmas decorations, or we may already have the tree taken down and out on the curb. Whatever it may be, keep the spirit of Christmas alive in your heart all year long! Just because Christmas is over, does not mean that we forgot. We still live out the Christian faith by our actions-- what we do all year long!
I want to know this in my heart. I don't just want it to be something my lips say, but I want it to be evident in my daily life! This has been something on my heart for quite some time, but have never really understood until right now. My friends have often laughed with me as I walk down the street in the middle of July whistling and singing Christmas carols. There is something so uplifting and freeing about Christmas. It is Jesus!!!
I go forward with the love of Christ within me! I want to spread the joy of the Lord to everyone I meet. Not just today. Not just this time of year. Not just because I feel that I should. But I want to because that is what Jesus wants me to do ... all year long. So as I go forth singing Christmas carols for the next year, even in the heat of summer, it is just a singing out of thanksgiving for the birth of our Lord and Savior! I am so thankful for the babe born and laid in a manger. Born lowly of low. Humbled before all. Who came and died so we can all live! <3
So I deck the halls in joyful preparation of the coming of the Lord and leave it up to continue the celebration of that wonderful night!
For today is the birthday of Jesus! I want to proclaim the the birth of my Lord and give glory to God forevermore!
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