Yep, we got a tree. It is our first real tree in our first house as a married couple. Since we were married in Dec of '04, AFTER Christmas, we didn't get our first tree together until 2005, but we were still in an apartment. Last year we had the house, and we did get a tree, but it was a very small, artificial one because we were in New England for most of the holiday season. This year, we are staying home for Christmas, so we went to the local Christmas Tree Lot and paid an outrageous sum of money for the privilege, but we have our tree! We set it up yesterday and decorated it today.
When Grace woke up from her nap,
She was utterly bedazzled by the lights on the tree, and even clapped! Always nice to get an ovation for decorating...
In the midst of tree trimming, I of course still have schoolwork to do, but thankfully the semester is almost over! I have one more presentation, on Tuesday, a research paper to edit, then finals on the 13th and 14th, then we are off until mid-January!
I get so excited this time of year, not just because of the break from the mundane, but because of the true meaning of Christmas. I marvel that God chose to humble Himself, and become a baby. I think I realize it more since becoming a parent, just what that entailed. The Christ-child, being fully human, had to have his diapers changed. He had to be nursed, and burped, and spoon-fed, and swaddled. He had to be sung and rocked to sleep, and learn to roll over, crawl, and walk. How old was He when He spoke His first word? When He took His first teetering, uncertain step? When He used whatever passed for a potty in Biblical times? And how odd was it for Mary to know that He was God incarnate, yet He was so dependent upon her for all of His needs? I understand a bit better now, the scripture that says that Mary "pondered all of these things in her heart."
Christmas is God's provision to a needy world. It is the incarnation of hope, and peace, and salvation. Some folks back then thought that Messiah had come to bring political freedom from the Romans. Many did not believe He was Messiah. I am so thankful that He did what He came to do, which is to show the way to His Kingdom ("No one comes to the Father except through Me), and to provide us with the means to get there (If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, then you shall be saved). That baby boy who was born some 2000-odd years ago is still alive today, at the right hand of the Father. That is the miracle of Christmas. My goal is to honor Him with all that I do, and this Christmas, that means seeking to bring Him glory with every decoration I put up, with every gift I make or purchase, with every greeting of "Merry Christmas," with every step I take in the snow.
Lord, may it be to me as You have said.
Blessings in Christ,
~ Kate :)
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