How I REALLY Feel About Christmas

For those of you that read my blog earlier today (especially the Christmas one which is now deleted)... I'm sorry about all the things I said, a lot of which I didn't mean. I was just very frustrated with our extremely materialistic society and finding God in the midst of all the shopping and spending is just hard to do. It seems like there's two sides to Christmas: 1) the birth of Jesus and the whole nativity scene thing, 2) Santa, shopping, Christmas lights, sultry pop Christmas music, companies getting money, blah de blah blah blah.

And that's hard for me, because where do those two sides collide? Where is Jesus in the "other" side of Christmas?? It's hard to be enthusiastic about the birth of Christ when the only way people know how to celebrate it anymore is by buying expensive things that no one really needs when it should be celebrated with reverence, by treating others with compassion and love, by reaching out to those in real need. That's what I struggle with.

And the post I wrote earlier today, please know that I'm sorry. It was poorly written because I didn't know how to adequately express myself, so I whined about everything having to do with Christmas and was overall very pessimistic. Please let me redeem myself:

Jesus Christ is greater than all of Earth's problems. He is the epitome and personification of love and hope. I know that even though America (and, frankly, the rest of the world) really just "doesn't get it" a lot of the time, someday everyone will know what this life is really all about. Please, help me celebrate the day our Savior came to Earth out of love for us, or, as Relient K would put it, "I celebrate the day that You were born to die, so I could one day pray for You to save my life, pray for You to save my life."


I have a few ideas but please feel free to add more in the comments.

1) Instead of buying someone a present, donate that money you would have spent on a present for them, to a charity that they care about in their honor. Or if you don't know what particular charity they are passionate about about, donate it to one you care about. (Funny story, just as I was thinking about this, my Dad came into the living room and told me, "You know what you could get me for Christmas?" [I had asked him earlier what he wanted, to which he said he didn't know.] Then he started naming charities I could donate to in his honor. What a God-moment.)

2) Instead of buying someone a present (once again), write them a letter about how much they mean to you and how much you love and appreciate them. It would mean so much more to them and they would cherish it much longer. Jesus is a relational God, not a materialistic God.


Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."


Sorry again for my huge blunder. I ask your forgiveness.

God bless.


UPDATE: I found this GREAT picture that I would like to share:

Click it to make it bigger.
That's all. God bless.