Merry Christmas!

How's everyone doing? Five more days until Christmas!! The countdown begins!!

Do you have your Christmas shopping done? If you think you have it all done, do you really? How about those stocking stuffers? Okay you have the kids done, right? Hope so. How about your parents, grandparents, boss, colleague, sunday school teacher, pastor, oh and don't forget your spouse, dog? Didn't mean to list spouse by dog...just the way it came out of the ole brain. I don't even own a dog. The list could go on and on. Have I depressed you yet? Every time I go to the store, I think of something else that I need to buy and buy something else that I didn't even have on the list. How is that?

Do you have the Christmas tree up and decorated? Is your house all decked out with decorations? How about those Christmas lights on the house, bushes and anywhere else you can think of? Oh yeah, how about one of those new snow globes for the lawn? (now those are cool...get the one with Winnie-The-Pooh! My fav!) I have one pine tree decorated outside, is that enough? How about the Christmas cards? Buy those Christmas stamps? Have the cards all been sent out?

How about groceries for Christmas dinner? Oh, I see, you're waiting until the craziest weekend of the year to go grocery shopping, like myself. For you bakers out there, are the Christmas cookies baked? How about the fudge? Oh I think I can smell them now. I made about four patches of cookies in hopes that one batch wouldn't be under-baked (is that a word?) or burned. I digress. So, what else is there?

Oh my goodness, how can I forget. Do you have all of your presents WRAPPED? You're good if you have that done. I'll give you a tip...wrap gifts when you buy them, and it is a much better experience. Even when I do this, I'm still wrapping a day before Christmas, why is that? I don't even want to talk about getting the house clean for family & friends. That list is wayyyyy too long to list here.

And isn't it interesting that out of all the presents we buy for those we love and respect, we don't even give to the one who Christmas is all about? I know...Jesus doesn't want any gifts from his children, right? Or does he?

Could he want to see a little more patience from his children as they rush thru the stores? Could he want his children to give just a little bit more to those in need? Could he want just ten darn minutes of our time daily to praise his name, pray and/or spend time doing devotions? Hmmm...I wonder, what else could he want?

But it's hard, I say to myself. I know that God speaks to me as I open up The Word and pray to him, yet during the time of the year when deep down I am the most thankful, for some reason, at times, I feel the furthest away from my heavenly Father. I can't even use the excuse that I'm just too busy. This season has been much more laid back than years past. I find time for other things, but when it comes to spending time with God, I am unfocused. It's embarrassing to admit, but that's the truth. There are times when I feel close to my Lord because I pray every day, but is that for Him or for me? What am I doing for Him?

I'm going to try hard to go to The Word, work on devotions and think about ways to help others. I ask myself to focus my overday routine and my writing projects, why not this, which is much more important? During this holiday time, shouldn't we actually celebrate the true reason for the season and give our Lord and Savior the best Christmas present ever? I think so.

I encourage you, as well as myself, to remember to praise his Holy Name and find ways to reach out to Him and His people during this busy holiday season. May God bless you and yours.

M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S!!