This is the third post in the December series, Spirit of Christmas. Amy Boyd is another Twitter friend whom I’ve yet to meet in person, but have discovered that we live not too far apart. Her encouraging spirit shines through in her blog posts, tweets and Facebook statuses. Enjoy Amy’s touching story of how she found the spirit of Christmas!
I love the Christmas season!!
When I was young Christmas was an extra special time for us. Mom decorated the house from top to bottom with her own handmade decorations. If you stood still long enough you got decorated too. Weekends were spent whipping up divinity and potato candy. These were some of the special treats that were only around in the days between Thanksgiving and New Year. In the middle of all that busyness my siblings and I were taught the true meaning of Christmas, but (like most kids) our focus was on the presents.
As I got older I looked forward to getting married and beginning my own traditions. In our family room we have 12-foot-tall ceilings, so we spent every year trying to find a live tree bigger than the prior one. Of course, there was time set aside for gift shopping, some crafting and baking. It was a time when we did things that we normally didn’t do. We told the kids that Christmas is really about celebrating the birth of Jesus. In fact, a beautiful nativity set was a large part of our seasonal deco. We would find small ways to interject the true meaning into the season for my kids, yet I still had not grasped a deep understanding of Christ’s birth.
That is until Christmas 2006. That year changed me. We had already spent a year riding an emotional roller coaster with the free-fall coming when my mother-in-law was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. When the phone rang before sunrise on Christmas morning, I knew it wasn’t good news.
Mike’s voice quivered, Stay here. I’ll call you when I know more. I woke my kids and tried to remain calm as I explained what was happening. They were almost grown so I prayed they would understand even though I wasn’t sure I did. Sitting on the floor in the glow of the tree lights I cried out to God.
Why on today would you let this happen? How can I celebrate your son’s birth when our Nana is fighting for her life?
I thought never again would I be able to celebrate the Christmas season with the same joy. Quietly, I felt the Holy Spirit remind me.
Each event in your life is to serve a purpose in my plan for you. My son was conceived with a purpose: so he could die for you. This is all so that you would understand my son’s birth.
This realization pierced my soul. I knew that it was okay to question why her, why cancer and why Christmas Day. It was all bringing me to a greater understanding of my Savior’s birth. The pain I felt over the next 6 months as we walked the cancer road was great, but the pain from my sin became even greater. I began to examine myself: if I had the ability to control life and death, would I give life to a baby with the knowledge that he would be born to later die so that others would live? Knowing that he wouldn’t just die, but that his death would be traumatic and excruciating. I could not do this, yet my God did it for me!
The consciousness of what Jesus was born to do so that I, a selfish sinner, could live eternally with him in Heaven brings me to my knees in humble worship. It is hard for my flesh to understand how and why anyone would do anything so great and sacrificial for one who has hurt him so deeply. That Christmas I gained a clearer picture of God’s grace. In his grace and mercy he led me into a deeper understanding of his son’s birth which resulted in the ultimate act of love for me.
So, we have Christmas: a time each year to remember that a baby wasn’t just born to live a perfect life, but born so that he could die for you and me. Christmas is a holiday that the world has commercialized every way it can. But for our family it is a time to stop and remember. We can and should spend each day giving thanks to God for his son, Jesus. We don’t need a special day marked in the calendar to do this, but approaching that day is special. As I gain a deeper understanding of his birth, my relationship has been deeply affected.
Please don’t let this Christmas come and go without going to your Lord Jesus Christ and thanking him for giving his earthly life for you. Share this truth with your children, and pray that they too would come to a deep understanding of the meaning of Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection.
Amy works for a major Telecommunication company during the week but is a speaker/bible teacher on the weekend. She is a happily married mother of two grown children. On her blog, Living in Harmony, Amy shares how God can take your past and use it in harmony with His love to create a beautiful song of hope, peace and renewed dreams. You can read her blog, Living in Harmony, follow her on Twitter at @amypboyd and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/amypboydspeaks.
