Opening Up The Relational

I think there are more of us then not that wish for some type of Christmas miracle. This whole Advent Conspiracy has been about relational giving and the largest challenge is the vulnerability we feel by pouring out our hearts and risking rejection. There are a lot of us who haven’t spoken to a family member in a long time, so the idea of reaching out to them seems like too much of a void. There are a lot of us overwhelmed by the commercialism and materialism and we don’t have the wallets to compete with it all so it feels as if Christmas will be ruined. I feel like that’s where a lot of the reluctance to travel and do stuff on Christmas comes from, because facing some of the wounds, confronting some of the holes, looking at where we feel weak is just too difficult to take on.
There is a lot at stake when it comes to the holidays because it’s a time where we would like for great things to happen but year after year after year nothing seems to change. It’s funny because Christmas signifies the time our Savior came to change all things, to defeat darkness, to complete our joy, to show us salvation, but we don’t recognize that because the holiday shopping season has done a great job of covering that up. If we make this Christmas about Christ, if we set some time aside to be with God we can refocus on the true meaning. Because God has a greater gift for us, greater than anything we could ever buy and He’s already given it to us, we just need to accept it:
My challenge to all of you today is to read Matthew 1:18-23 and ask yourself, “How do I want God with me during this time?”