My Christmas Advice!

 

There have been very few times in my life that have been more peaceful than Christmas Eve. The shopping is done and all the pieces are in place for Christmas morning. Yet, I also remember the STRESS and chaos of Christmas Eve as a parent! Christmas Eve was not ALWAYS filled with peace and serenity. I remember building toys and the late nights wrapping presents. I remember the kids waking up at 5am and trying to be filled with Christmas joy with three hours of sleep!

Some of you know my Christmas Eve shopping tradition. For years I have done my shopping on Christmas Eve. For those of you who finish your Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving, just the thought of waiting until Christmas Eve to START your shopping makes your eye twitch! LOL!

So, why do I wait until the day before Christmas to shop?  It really is very simple. The people who shop on Christmas Eve are a different breed of people. They seem to be in a better mood. They seem to be more at peace. I am not sure why, but they seem to just enjoy the day. For me, that is so true. On Christmas Eve, I am not looking for that perfect gift. I am not looking for that sold-out Christmas gift-of-the-year. I enjoy the moment. I get my "Auntie Anne's Pretzel," stroll through the mall, travel to Jefferson Pointe, and eat lunch at Chick-Filet (this year that will be a problem because Christmas Eve is on Sunday!) I always find what I am looking for. It is a great day of peace and joy!

Christmas is supposed to be the time of year filled with PEACE, JOY, and HAPPINESS. After all, we are celebrating the joy of JESUS' BIRTH! Like the rest of the. year, the joy of life gets sucked right out of us because of the craziness, because of the "hustle and bustle" of life. We become slaves to the chaos and the speed of life!

As I was reading Second Peter this morning, I got the sense of a man who was very near the end of his life and was at peace. Peter was giving his final advice and he was telling us not to be dragged down by the things of this world. He recognized there was so much stress and chaos in the world around him, even within the church. They were dealing with false teachers, doubt, and fear. They were dealing with people that thrive in chaos when they were supposed to be living in peace knowing that Jesus was coming back!

"And so dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight. And remember, our Lord's patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him -- speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture." ( 2 Peter 3:15,16)

So, do everything you can to have a peace-filled, joyous Christmas knowing that Jesus is coming back soon. If you don't get that perfect gift, if you forgot the Eggnog, or forgot the AAA batteries, or are missing some part of the game you ordered from Amazon, IT'S OK! Sit back and enjoy the birth of the Savior of the World, the one that is coming back again to save us from the chaos of this crazy and chaotic world!

Merry Christmas!