To Know Its Christmas

Through wisdom a house is built,

      And by understanding it is established;

        By knowledge the rooms are filled

      With all precious and pleasant riches

Proverbs 24:3-4

I love Christmas time. For me, it is a time of lots of wonderful memories,  a deep sense of goodness and hope, a time of bonding with others - especially family, and a time to savour what it is to understand the reason behind the season - the birth of Christ.

I love the thought of resting, of the year coming to an end, with school finishing and having the kids around me ( am I mad???), of having Alan home and not focusing his every waking moment  on school, church or study. I get rushes of playfulness with the kids when we talk of Christmas plans, of buying and giving and recieving gifts and writing cards of thankfulness. I get spontaneous moments of cheerfulness as I walk through shopping aisles listening to songs sunk deep into my psyche, and find myself whistling, humming or even singing along without thought. I smile more at people I dont know. They are less foreign and more human at christmas time...Young kids are endearing, even the tired snotty cranky ones you find in the bustling shops, needing to go home to bed. I  find I am generally more tolerant to the irrates of every day life.   I want to socialise, slow down, let the kids run wild for a time and listen to other peoples life stories.  I enjoy focusing on them and not me.  Don't you love Christmas?  I know Christmas!

Sadly  many people have negative associations with this season. For me, I only recall positive experiences.

I think back to my child hood and find I really do appreciate the efforts my parents, and grandparents went to, to give my siblings and I, a great Christmas experience. We were so blessed, waking up at the crack of dawn to a pillowcase overflowing with goodies.

Each year, My mum used to tell us great stories of what my grandfather did when she was growing up in outback Queensland. Father Christmas (aka grandfather and grandma) would visit them, and leave sleigh n reindeer track marks etched in the dirt road for a couple of hundred metres....  to prove he had been there... ( I always wished we had dirt roads, so much for bitumen!) They also found in their Christmas sacks amongst their Christmas toys, weird quirky surprises, such as old shoes and the like. They grew up in poverty, and didn't get much at Christmas, but what they got was  filled with love and thoughtfulness from my grandmother and grand father. And so my mum ( and less so, dad)  did the same for us. We were financially  far better off as a family,  and so we received loads of gifts from Santa and our parents. We would always leave something out for Santa and the reindeer, minties and soft drink or a beer, Christmas cake or carrots, lol poor mum! It was always gone in the morning. Occasionally we'd also find the odd shoe etc, at the bottom of the bag. BUT, it was always a happy time.

 

My Grandma would also give us wonderful gifts, and a years worth of money she had saved from her pension, for us to spend. She had vigilantly put away $2 per grand child per week all year, and come Christmas, we'd have $100 or more to spend.  To any kid, even now a days, that's a huge amount of  money. My Nanna and Poppa, also sent us a card and cash (not nearly as much) and when we spent Christmas at their place, they'd go all out, to provide a wonderful feast of goodies to eat, a sing along  of carols, to nanna playing on her organ and a real live Christmas tree from the bush... It was an experience.

We always went to the school Christmas carols each year, we'd always take our candles and blankets, and sing along to the songs till the night grew dark, then pack up and walk or drive home.

Our dads side of the family had a huge family Christmas party each year, we'd drive up to Gympie or Tiaro town hall and have a wonderful get together, a cent auction, a talent show, Christmas carols, Santa n gifts all spread throughout a day full of sumptuous foods, morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea filled with country cooked delights. It was always a wonderful day, we looked forwards to, despite the long drive, and continued every xmas through all of my childhood and into my adult life, until about 12 -15yrs ago when I stopped going.

Christmas has been a wonderful time of great memories.... Sure it was never perfect, there'd be fights and forgetfulness, offences, jealousy and rudeness, and of course, gluttony abounded, but what sank into my heart, was only goodness and gratefulness and a great spiritual significance. So many times, I have found in the midst of Christmas, a real connection with my Lord and saviour. I really sensed his presence here on earth and his influence around the world. Ive felt that spirit of Christmas, Ive seen the Holy Spirit manifest its presence in the season. Its been tangible for me. Palpable.  Ive heard the hearts of people sing , as the words of hope and praise, are echoed in the Christmas songs, sung each year in the domain, and  in the Myer music bowl, beamed around Australia on TV. The joyous fun times heard and seen in the fun xmas songs, the adventures of  other nations, in the songs written in other languages. And yet I know others have felt struggle and sadness, loneliness and turmoil at this time. How my heart aches for all to know and experience the joy of Christmas.

Some  thoughts and suggestions  I can offer to those struggling through this season include... :
Make the effort to turn your sad times in to glad times- its worth it, create some good memories n traditions for yourself n your family,  write a list of everything you are grateful for (there's always something to be thankful for), look for opportunities to bless others and receive the blessings given to you with joy. Dont spend Christmas alone, you are someone elses joyful companion. Forgive those who've hurt you (not easy but essential for moving on) and lay the issues of division or loneliness at the feet of Jesus and leave them there. Lean into him, and focus on others, and you'll find that Christmas will eventually start to change. Eventually, you will find that same innate sense of celebration and hope that I get each year at this time. This I  believe with all my heart.

Anyway, I just want to take a moment to say this...

These words at the top, are from Proverbs and are my Christmas prayer for you and your family  now and for 2011. ..... I pray you will know n love this season for all it represents.

I pray you get to build your house well.  Let God guide you to find wisdom, and seek it in all you do, to build your life, your family, your physical and spiritual being, your career, your friendships, your travels and investments well. I pray that you will gain understanding in how it all comes together, that you will comprehend the importance,  identify and explore the connections, that help to establish all you live for and be established in these areas. I hope you will know fully inside and out, and  if not, then gain  the knowledge, to fill the rooms of your life with all the precious, beautiful, satisfying and pleasant riches ( in what ever forms that you desire and need), so that you will be full and blessed in all you do.

Stay in touch.

Merry Christmas, and have a wonderful new  year in 2011.