I love this season of Advent and have been feeling a tug in my spirit to share some thoughts on what this time of year really means to me as a believer.  There is so much hustle and bustle during the Holidays between shopping, celebrations, and spending time with family (nothing wrong with any of that!), but I find that God is so good at lovingly reminding me that there is a much bigger gift that I at times, innocently overlook. The gift is His everlasting love, and the hope that only He can promise.

One of my favorite Christmas carols is ‘O Holy Night.’  The Celine Dion rendition nearly brings me to tears every time I hear it (I imagine that is what the choirs in heaven are like. Celine’s voice is nothing short of angelic, am I right?) When you really focus on the lyrics of this song, it’s no wonder my spirit is moved and the tears start to form. Let’s take a look:

O holy night the stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new glorious morn
Fall on your knees
O hear the angels’ voices
O night divine
O night when Christ was born
O night divine o night
O night divine

What a beautiful reminder that our validation and value is in the Lord, and without the Savior we are weary and hopeless. Our very identities were established when Jesus entered the world and our souls at last ‘felt worth‘. This to me is the very reason I celebrate this season. A time to rejoice in the hope that Christ brings. A time to give thanks that he was sent into this world to deliver you and I. A time to fix my eyes on Him.

And yet, it is so easy to get distracted. I am a ‘Go Big Or Go Home‘ kinda gal. When it comes to getting good grades, or being a top performer it comes in handy to do everything full-out and go above and beyond. But this very same trait that has come to my aid many times, is also the very thing that causes me to lose sight of what truly matters. I become fixated on making every detail of my Holiday decorations perfect, wrapping every gift with precision, finding the perfect Holiday outfit, and just being so over the top. Don’t get me wrong, those are all fun aspects of the Holidays, and blessings I feel that God wants us to enjoy. What he doesn’t want however, is for us to become consumed. Consumed with materialistic possessions, consumed with what others think about us, or consumed with making sure that our house looks better than our neighbors’. It’s all fleeting. Think about how many times you’ve wanted to tell someone off in the parking lot at the mall, or how irritated you’ve been with the sales associate at the store and I think it’s safe to say that we all may get a little distracted when it comes to recognizing what matters most this time of year 🙂

But even still, God is a God of mercy and love. He wants to give us the desires of our heart, and in the long run it’s us that miss out on the magic of this season when we displace our priorities. There is so much opportunity to spread love, ‘Holiday cheer’, and kindness especially at this time of year when people are so much more receptive. Humankind is desperately searching for a message of hope. It’s in our nature to seek compassion and to feel loved. We need The “Light of the World.” And there’s the answer to the million dollar question: “What does Christmas mean to You?” For me, it’s a chance to recognize that I am hopeless without a Savior. I need God’s light in my life. But even more– I need to BE God’s light. In a world that is constantly searching for identity and something good to cling to, I need to be the light in my actions, how I carry myself, and how I speak. I want nothing more than to be a daily representation of God’s light and loving kindness.  To me, this is the time to celebrate not only the joy of the Holidays, but the promise of our Savior who was and is to come.

I hope you all have a beautiful CHRISTmas, and a magical Holiday season. What a priceless gift He is.

“For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah 9:6