Reason for the Season

This past week has been a good week. I feel like God is showing me really what Christmas is all about...and its wonderful. Last night I spent about an hour outside shoveling our driveway so Justin could actually park in it when he got home from his work meeting. I had spent the whole day working and running around, I still had paperwork to do, dishes to be done, and trash to be taken out. That being said, it was a very nice time. It was dark, no cars were driving by, a little snow was falling from the sky, and I spent that hour listening to Christmas music and reconnecting with my Savior.

A couple times I had nasty thoughts about Justin "If he EVEN says ONE thing about my crappy shoveling job, then I'm gonna lose it". (note to readers: Justin has been nothing BUT encouraging since the day we met). I started thinking "why am I doing shoveling this driveway?". Is it to please Justin? Please myself by being a "good wife"? Yes and yes. No wonder I was shoveling begrudgingly, I wasn't doing it to please the Lord. Then I heard a line from "In Christ Alone", that changed my night:

And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me!
For I am His and He is mine,
Bought with the precious blood of Christ!

 

YES, YES, YES!

 

So easily I forget! God gave us the ultimate gift in Christ. The little baby in a manger, became a man, and now is next to God. Because of His power in me, I don't have to be a slave to my sinful attitude! I am FREE!  So I finished shoveling because I wanted to please my God. He gave the best gift ever. I can never out give God, and it would be appalling to him for me to try. But what a JOY it is to be a gift to someone else life. To shovel the driveway so Justin could park in it, so the snow wouldn't damage our cars, to love and serve my family in a way God could teach me to do with joy :)

 

I have been thinking a lot about gifts. We received the most excellent gift years ago in a baby born in a barn. I LOVE giving gifts. It is so fun to give as God has given to us. I was listening to Kiss 107 and the have a piece titled "Single Mom Santa". Every story brought me to tears. Yes Christmas IS about giving. I was moved so much because it points me to my Savior who has given everything! I hope we can teach Inara (and our selves) how GOOD is is to give. This Christmas, how will you give yourself, just as Christ has given himself so extravagantly to us?