A Changed Viewpoint on Christmas!!

This has been one of the craziest times leading up to Christmas for my family and me. This is the first year ever that neither me or Alyson will see our parents and siblings for Christmas. This has been pretty hard for the both of us...but exciting at the same time because we are spending this Christmas with our family. Just the four of us and no one else. The bad part about it is that we are living in a temporary home which means every present we buy has to fit in the van, or be able to be given away at the end of our time here. So that was just the first of many changes this Christmas season.

The second is that this is the first Christmas that we have been on a budget that we stick by no matter what!!  Alyson and I have been on the envelope system for the past four months in order to make sure we are saving as much money as possible. So we set aside a certain amount of money for buying presents for all of our family and friends...and needless to say it was gone way before we were ready for it to be. This has been very hard on me because giving is my favorite part of Christmas. I would rather give the entire Christmas then to ever receive a gift. But being on a budget has made this impossible. I look under our tree and I want to curl up under a bed and never come out. I have never seen a tree with so few gifts under it in all my life. As the breadwinner of this family that is very hard to see and accept. But I know that this is the smart thing for my family and Ime to do at this point in time in our lives.

The third difference in this Christmas season is that I heard the Christmas story in church in a way I have never heard it before. Our pastor talked about how hectic that first Christmas night must have been which is something that you do not hear very often. I loved the sermon and everything that he said in it...and it caused me to make sure that this year among all the busyness of the season that I make sure I position myself to hear from God and to worship Him during this time of year. So Alyson and I have both decided that we will not have our cell phones on or our computers on this Christmas because we want to enjoy the time that we have with one another. I would encourage you to go listen to this sermon online and to figure out how to apply it to your life this season.  Go to nextlevelchurch.com and click on resources, then listen to or watch messages. The message is entitled "Do You Hear, part 2".

The last thing that has changed my viewpoint on Christmas is what happened today in my store. My wife "hates" the fact that I will talk to anyone and ask anyone about their life, or a disease they might be battling, or how they became an amputee, etc... Well today I was talking to a young couple that had 4 kids sitting at their table. The youngest one looked like he was the same age as Charis, so I decided to ask how old he was. The lady holding him then told me that he was 8 months old and that they had a set of twins that were 6 years old and another daughter that was 3 years old. I don't know if many of you know this or not but Alyson and I really wanted twins for our first pregnancy. So I proceeded to ask her "how was it having twins?? Everyone has told me how difficult it is for the first few months..." and she interrupted me and said, "I am not the biological mother." Once again I found myself in this awkward situation asking myself, how are you going to get out of this conversation. Well the father walks over so I asked him the same question...how was it having twins, and he proceeded to tell me that the first few months are brutal but after that it is great.  His girlfriend, sister, or whatever she is was watching our conversation while holding the small child. He then tells me, my wife passed away in March on the same day that that little guy was born (pointing to the little kid). So I continued on..."was it due to complications in the pregnancy" and he answered "kind of, she had eclampsia and had seizures and a brain hemorrhage, so they delivered the little baby and she died later on that same evening." I was in utter shock. As the conversation continued I asked his name (please pray for Josh and his family) and told him that I would be praying for him this Christmas season. I told him that I know that this would be a very tough season for him, but that my prayers would be with him. He thanked me and we ended the conversation shortly thereafter.

It was at that very moment when Josh said that he had lost his wife and that he was about to celebrate Christmas without his wife for the first time in his life, and that it would be his son's first Christmas, who was born the same day that his mother passed away that my viewpoint of Christmas was changed.  I might not be happy with the number of presents under the tree, but I have the greatest gift that I could ever have this season. I have my precious wife who has made marriage something greater than I ever imagined it to be. And I have my beautiful kids who make me smile every time I see their face...well almost every time!! I could have no other gift given to me this Christmas season and I would already have more than some people have this Christmas. I will be praying for everyone who has lost loved ones this year, or years past. And I will be thankful that I have my precious family to celebrate the day that my Savior was born. He is ultimately the only reason that we celebrate this time anyway, so who cares what gifts are under the tree??? After my conversation with Josh I can truly say my gifts are already here and I will cherish them as long as I live!!