Best Christmas Ever

I have said for a very long time that it is not what you receive but how graciously you give at this time of year that makes the season joyous. I will reiterate that, but offer you the caveat that you not presume that giving requires anything tangible or store bought.

It is this thought that was proven this year. I was given the best Christmas ever by some manner of adoptive family. I have a new brother, and this was my first Christmas with his family, his whole family as part of that family, though we've known each other for years.

I will jokingly suggest that I was in Breslau, Ontario, having Christmas in an evergreen forest. The family is the Wood family and my acceptance is that akin to adoption. I was witness to great family love and co-operation and to the idea that giving at Christmas while traditional and awesome for the children to experience, is tempered by the understanding of what Christmas is. It is a celebration of the birth of Jesus and we need to remember this by being a blessing to each other on a day-to-day basis. God, the father of Jesus Christ, gave his only son by sending him down from heaven to show us what it was to be good followers of God. His story is found in many books of the New Testament and it's worth a read, though admittedly I have yet to read any one in it's entirety.

Being a blessing to others is the greatest gift to God you can make, and I believe that forgiveness of others, loving others simply because they, we, are all children of Jesus Christ, and he loves us, so just as your mother or father will look kindly on your helping out a brother of sister, the Lord looks kindly on each of us offering love and support to one another. Just as Jesus pledges his love for us as an unwavering and everlasting love, not conditional on our actions, he must also consider it a gift to him when we show this love to others, our peers, or friends, and the strangers on the streets of our lives.

My friends, The Wood Family, they are a blessing to me. They gave me the best Christmas ever.

Comments

Popular Posts