It's not much of a secret that last December was not good. December of 2013 was an emotional roller coaster. It began by going home, preparing to say goodbye to my Grandma, being at the hospital when she briefly came out of her coma, going back to Fort Worth with hope of my Grandma celebrating Kyle's birthday with us the following week, a huge ice storm hitting Fort Worth which ultimately kept me from going back home to spend my Grandma's final hours with her, and then I had basically the worst wisdom teeth extraction imaginable right before Christmas.
In fact, December was so bad last year that when December 2014 finally got here, I didn't care about Christmas. For those who know me well, you know why that's so shocking. At this point, I've listened to maybe a total of 20 hours of Christmas music since 2013, my tree isn't up yet, and I haven't even watched my favorite Christmas movies yet (Love Actually and The Holiday). This morning I was reminded about Christmas and what it is that I love about it.
I've only attended/been a member of three churches for my entire life: My home church of FCC Lake Charles which is where I grew up, South Hills CC which is where I worshiped during undergrad at TCU/my first semester at Brite, and now FCC Gainesville where I have my dream job. All three of my churches have beautiful Christmas traditions - some unique to each congregation and some shared. Yet even in those changes, the joy of Christmas and the Good News of Christ remain constant. In the midst of impermanence, we are reminded that God has given us so much. God keeps promises. Our God will continuously be with us. Our God gives and gives and gives.
A lot of things have changed over the last year, yet some remain the same and I can't wait for the manger to be full once more. Come Holy Spirit, come.
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