Christmas

What a crazy time of year. Christmas in the money-spending sense is upon us, and has been for quite some time. People are shelling out more money than any other time of the year (unless it's thanksgiving and you're American) to bring 'the spirit of Christmas' to all those around them. It's at a moment like in which I stop myself, and do a little bit of navel gazing.

When I think of Christmas, I remember the times when I was little. We would drive to Grandma's and all of the cousins would gather in a central location. It'd be a week of festivities, driving behind the four-wheeler while we tried to hang onto the sled, or the games of decathlon on the Atari, while Brad schooled us all on the finer points of muscle spasms that lead to an incredible rate of wiggling that joystick. I'm reminded of the presents under the tree, and the I'm inevitably lead to the ever-building excitement that lead up to Christmas.

But nowadays, Christmas is more about getting together with family. It's the time to spend with people that you don't normally get to see, people that you trust and love. Christmas has moved away from the 'what do I get?' mentality, and into the family mentality. For me, I find that's the true centre of Christmas.

Jesus came to this earth, so that we could be a part of His family. He set aside everything, and joined one of our families. It's incredible to think about, and I believe I'm going to spend some good time just ... pondering the real depths of that over the next few days. God is SO good.