Merry Christmas, Darling!

Merry Christmas, my dear friends!! I hope that you all are able to spend time with family and friends and have time to think about the real reason for celebrating Christmas. It not exist without Christ. (In fact, I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t really exist, either.) While Santa Claus is fun and presents are great, that is not why we have this holiday.
When I was growing up my family never really had a lot of money. Somehow we always had everything we wanted, but I always knew that I wouldn’t get the same presents- or the same amount of presents- that other children received. I always wanted the things I couldn’t have, as a child often does, though I wasn’t heart broken when I didn’t get them. The gifts I got meant much more to me than the newest Barbie doll house, a Barbie jeep that I could drive, or a “MySize Barbie”. (Sensing a theme? I like Barbie… 🙂

The gifts I was given may have never been super grand (except the one time I got an Ariel body pillow or the time I got a Password Journal), but they meant something to me because my parents wanted me to have something.
The Christmases I remember quite clearly, though, are the ones that we have basically nothing. One year it had snowed and iced over on the steep hill near our home and the power had gone out. We all sat near the window and watched as cars tried to get up the icy hill, only to slide back down it. Eventually a police officer came to help, but he too got stuck. We laughed and prayed that no one would get hurt.

For me, Christmas isn’t about presents, it’s about memories.
The greatest memory that we can focus on during this Holiday is one that isn’t exactly our own, but one that was for us. The memory that Jesus Christ was sent here to be born on this earth and that he lived and died for us is one that I choose to turn my heart to. Knowing that he sacrificed his own mortal life and suffered in the garden of Gethsemane and on the cross for me helps me to feel how much he loves and cares for each one of us. He was then resurrected. HE LIVES! And that is wonderful to me.
The story of His birth as told in the King James Version of the Holy Bible is one that I hold dear. Every year on Christmas Eve, my father usually reads that story and we all sit and listen. I like to think of how sweet Jesus was as a baby and as a child. I love thinking about His mother, Mary, and how she knew that her son was the son of God. I think about Joesph and the faith he must have had when he found that his future wife was with child and that she would bare the Son of God. I wonder at the times when Jesus taught as a child in the temple and I wish that I could have heard His words in person.
I know that one day I will be able to see my savior again. I know that when I see him I will probably cry and that I will definitely feel that I am finally at home again. I know that he loves me and I can tell each and every single one of you that he loves you individually. His love knows no limits.
I know that there are a lot of things going on in so many of your lives that are hard to deal with. Trials and temptations are a part of life, though sometimes they feel like they are too much to bare. The message that I want to share is that you don’t have to go through it alone. Jesus Christ has felt every pain that you have felt, are feeling, and ever will feel. He has literally been there. As you turn to him and allow him to lift your burdens, I know that you will be able to get through whatever life throws at you. You can be happy, no matter your circumstances, as long as you know that Jesus Christ lives and that he loves you. Nothing else is more important.

The key to being more like him is to love. To genuinely love others and to allow that love to motivate you to do good things and to serve your fellow man. I am by no means perfect, but I am trying my best to love others and let them know of that love. If Charity is the Pure Love of Christ, then we must love and serve those around us.
I want to invite all of you to take notice of those who are around you more than what you have around you. Let the love you have for your family be the best gift you give them this year. Tell them you love them and give them a hug! Life is too short to let the ones we love pass on without us ever telling them how much we care for them. We can’t just assume that someone knows we love them. We have to show them by serving them and by telling them!

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope yours is full of love and the Light of Christ. 😀

~Savannah