Imagine feeling calm, collected, and at peace right now.  Christmas…the Nativity of Christ is tomorrow.  Most people think that it’s the end.   The end of the chaos, the end of feeling overwhelmed and spending too much money.  But not you.  You know that tomorrow is the beginning of one of the most beautiful seasons of the year.  The twelve days of Christmas.  For those of you who are old calendar, I pray that you are still experiencing the peace of the Nativity Fast.  The introspection, the prayer, and the joy…yes…joy, of knowing that the nativity is coming, and there is nothing you need to do to make it happen.

It’s ironic isn’t it?  God gave us His Son as a gift.  We didn’t do anything to deserve Him.  We didn’t have to work for it.  We didn’t even expect it.  And yet, this time of year has become all about working, doing things, making things happen, and meeting the expectations of the secular world…all in the name of “Christmas.”  A Christmas without Christ in it.

One of the things I love about Christmas coming at the end of December, is that it is a beautiful time to not only reflect on God’s love for us, and the coming of His Son, but also how that plays out in how we live our life.  How did it play out for you over the last year, the last quarter, the last couple months?  For those of you who have been in My Beautiful Advent, I know you were living purposefully and intentionally, with your faith at the center of all that you did.  But I also know from friends reaching out to me, that just because you had intentions, it didn’t happen that way.  Now is the time to decide how it will be next year.  While it’s still fresh. 

The new year is upon us, and we have the ability to carry Christmas with us every day.  To remind ourselves that Christ came into the world to save sinners…of whom I am the first…every day.  And live accordingly.  Let’s live this year with purpose and intention.  Let’s focus on what truly matters, and plan our lives to revolve around our own priorities…not be blown around by other people’s priorities.  The key word is plan.  Don’t just wish and hope.  You must plan and be intentional.  If you don’t, you will forget Christmas, and next year at this time, you may be just as frazzled as the next person.  I challenge you to be different.

My prayer for you in the coming year, and for myself too, is that we continue to grow in our love for the Lord.  That our lives reflect our faith.  That we envision ourselves as the people we want to be, and get even closer to that ideal through prayerful planning.  And that the real Christmas, the one with Christ in it, lives in our hearts each day through our love for God and each other.