The Greatest Gift
This message was in a publication of Focus on the Family from my church.
It's called "The Greatest Gift" by Rachael Carman, and I thought it was a lovely message for Christmas, so I'm posting it here:
"When I was a kid, Christmas was my favorite time of the year for all the wrong reasons. I loved making my wish list. My conversations with friends centered on the gifts we'd receive. And I had an arsenal of manipulative tactics ready to use on my parents. I do not remember a skimpy Christmas.
We had the stuff but not the Savior; we had the tree but not the manager; we had the lights but not the star. We had Christmas without Christ. And although we always had many presents and full stockings, the holiday was empty. His presence was missing.
I wish I could say it was easy for me to transition from a lifetime of wanting stuff to wanting Him. I grew accustomed to getting; I enjoyed being selfish. I did not realize how ugly it was--until my kids started getting old enough to respond to marketing.
This season isn't about extraordinary gifts but about celebrating Christ's birth. It's not about exhausted nights or expensive parties but about His extravagant love. It's not about rushing around but about resting in Him. With his focus, I can celebrate the greatest gift of all time, Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God."
Merry Christmas. 
See you after the New Year!
24 comments:
The sentiment is so heartfelt. I'm glad you posted it.
Have a wonderful Christmas, Jennifer.
What a blessing we find when we open our hearts. Merry Christmas Jennifer.
Jules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow
Merry Merry Christmas Jennifer! Thank you for the gift of the lovely essay. A beautiful reminder of His message.
That's a beautiful and heartfelt message. Thank you for sharing it with us. Merry Christmas!
So true. Thanks, Jennifer, for sharing--and Merry Christmas!
Thank you so much for this post!
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and best wishes for a sparkling, happy New Year!!
amen! Wonderful article!
Thanks for sharing this. I hope your Christmas was a very happy one.
Merry Christmas! Hope you're enjoying your holidays.
Nice. I hope your Christmas was wonderful.
Wonderful story! Hope you had a great Christmas:)
Definitely a reminder of the reason for the season. Thanks for sharing and hope you're having a great Christmas with your family!
Beautiful message that can never be repeated too many times.
Amen. It's far to easy to lose sight of the reason for the season amongst all the busyness and commercialism. For me, Christmas is a time of thanks, even more than Thanksgiving. Being surrounded by family and all the blessings God has showered upon me always makes me think extra hard about how much He has done for me, not just on Christmas, but every day of my life.
It's always nice to hear about someone finding religion. Happy Sigh.
Thanks for sharing.
All the best for the new year and thanks for the visits...nick
Jennifer, wishing you the happiest of New Years. x
Amen, sistah! Hope you guys had a very blessed Christmas and New Year!
Amen! Thank you for sharing the message . . . hope you had a great Christmas and New Years. :)
Jennifer, this is so, so late (I'm just getting back to blogging), but I hope you had a very Merry Christmas! What a lovely and important message. Thank you. =)
That's beautiful, Jennifer. Thanks for sharing
That was lovely, and so completely true. I hope your holidays were very blessed!
The reason for the season merits revisit, even on January 9!!
Happy New Year, girl.
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