Christmas is the greatest time

of the year!

Whoever said Christmas is only

a kid-thing grew up too fast! The little kid in me comes out at Christmas.

The anticipation, the holiday thrills, the countdown to Christmas day.

For some, Christmas brings

a cringe. The dreaded Christmas rush gets many of us caught up in the

marketing madness and we complicate Christmas. We put too much pressure

on ourselves to get it all done. Do we miss the truth of Christmas?

I still have last minute gifts

to buy, deadlines to meet, crowds to fight and commitments to fulfill.

I have my list of things to do. We expect this December duress, but is

this the main thrust of Christmas? Possibly each of us should ask, "What's

this season all about?"

Christmas is about a loving

God sending Jesus. "The Father has sent the Son as Savior of the

world" (I John 4:14). Focusing on the birth of Christ helps to make

Jesus the center of the celebration. He came into the world in an humble

manger in a plain stable. There was nothing fancy about that first Christmas.

It was simple. Maybe that's why the simple pleasures mean so much.

Simple pleasures make Christmas

special! It's chocolate drops and candy canes, cranberry bread and divinity,

cheese balls and crackers. It's a nibble here and a nibble there. It's

baking sugar cookies and watching my kids decorate them. It's green sugar

and white icing all over the place. It's Christmas candy in the candy

jar.

It's hearing "Oh Holy

Night" and "O Come All Ye Faithful." It's looking forward

to our Christmas musical and seeing a packed house of worshippers. It's

a Christmas Eve candle light service. It's standing around the piano singing

Christmas carols and listening to sounds of the season on the radio.

It's putting up the tree and

wrestling with the lights. It's sitting back and watching the kids place

20 years worth of ornaments on the Christmas tree. It's a splash of greenery

placed here and a red bow there and candles all around. It's a beautiful

wreath on the door. It's riding through neighborhoods and viewing unending

displays of decorations.

It's Bing Crosby and "White

Christmas," Jimmy Stewart and "It's a Wonderful Life,"

Charlie Brown and "Frosty the Snowman." It's reading "The

Night Before Christmas." It's lighting an Advent candle each Sunday

and preaching on Christmas themes. It's being in worship as a family.

It's relishing Christmas morning

with wide-eyed kids opening presents and emptying stockings. It's sounds

of surprise and joy. It's the warm feeling of being with loved ones and

of knowing you are loved. It's knowing God loved us and gave us his best

Christmas present.

Which brings us