Gosh where has this year gone to? December already. December is a strange month. We have all the excitement of parties, gifts, dressing up, time off work for lots of people, meeting friends and families and then we have the stress of shopping for just the right gift, sorting out meals for visitors, cold weather and so on. I try and pace myself, so I don’t have everything to do in the last few days before the holiday. Of course, this doesn’t work and like probably most of us I am in a panic on Christmas week. Christmas is lovely even with all its commercialism. Christmas cards may have only been around in the way we know them since Victorian times but there is something special about thinking of each person you are sending a card to as you write it. Another idea brought over from Germany by Prince Albert was the Christmas tree. Over the years these have got more numerous and more lavishly decorated. We all have them now and I don’t know about you, but I like to see them as I walk around particularly if they have lights on them. I even like wrapping presents up and deciding which paper and bows to put on though I know that with the younger people it will just be ripped off and discarded with hardly a glance at it. I like to poke and prod my presents under the tree to try and guess what they all are. But the best Christmas gift isn’t under the tree it is the gift of Jesus. It isn’t wrapped in fancy paper with or without bows. It is a gift that we have for everyday year after year. In fact, for eternity. It gives us strength, peace, love, comfort, and all we need. It doesn’t stop working because the batteries have run out or because something has dropped off it. The best present ever and although we already have it, to stop and remember and think about it on Christmas day makes it more special. I hope that as well as this gift you get other gifts that show the love that others have for you.
Merry Christmas
God Bless
Maureen