Holidays...a little late

I cherish Thanksgiving and refuse to decorate or listen to Christmas music until it is over. Therefore, I cranked up the Christmas music Friday morning and started dragging boxes down from the attic.

My Christmas decorations are random.  I do not have a theme or a collection of anything to speak of.  I do have a whole lot of special stuff that all comes together and tells our story of Christmas as a family…the plate we put Santa’s cookies on, my Grandmother’s nativity scene, my ornament from Miss Alford in first grade, a handmade quilt I recently was given, the wreath I made the first Christmas we were married, and our handstitched sequined stockings, but no proper collection.

However, I have a collection of thoughts about Christmas thus far.  First of all, we sure do pack a lot into the month from Thanksgiving to Christmas.  Calendars, bellies, and shopping carts are stuffed to the max. 

I heard a Grandson and Grandfather story that illustrates this concept well.  Granddad called Grandson and asked if he wanted a deer he shot.  He said sure and went on by his house to pick it up.  When he got there, his Granddad opened up his freezer and much to the young man’s surprise, the WHOLE deer was in the freezer.  It seems Granddad really did not want to mess with it after he shot it and just stuffed it in the freezer…whole, uncut, uncleaned, just the way it was when its life ended, top to bottom! 

We sadly do that too with Christmas by packing in all we can, not really enjoying the meaning of it and focusing on the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Simply said, less is more, we can pack too much, and miss it all! 

The next thought I collected originated from a missing bulb in a strand of lights.  We had the tree lit up like a runway and then lost half of it because one bulb fell out.  Really?  Can one bulb make that big of a difference? 

When it happened, I thought…Yeah, ONE light, ONE PERSON can make that big of a difference.  One person in a church, an office, a classroom, or a family has the ability to bring so much light and love to others or so much darkness and discouragement.  Jesus was the first real light and He was born to light up the world. So, will you light up the world around you this year or make it darker?  One person does matter! 

My last thought was tonight.  We were on round two in the attic.  My son got smart and padded the bottom of the stairs with pillows and a folded up comforter.  He decided items not marked fragile could be dropped softly to the bottom.  Right before he let the first bag of garland go, our dog walked out of the closest bedroom and spotted the blanket in the floor.  Bubs saw the comforter as an open invitation to lay down right in our line of fire.  We could not get him to move and had to call from above in the attic for help.  Another Monico came to our rescue and picked him up.  We sure were glad he came to help us!

No matter your need this week, you can have help too.  Whether this holiday season finds you up or down, there is no greater time than to ask Jesus Christ to help you.  I love Isaiah 9:6.  It says “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”  Wow, that says it all and is the real meaning of Christmas!