it has been a fun month of december! i have many pics, but i still need to upload and organize so they shall come later. the month has been full of finishing my first semester of school, travelling to ohio to see a very pregnant bff and her husband back from haiti getting ready for their little lily, working lots, the bros came home for break, and then, of course, Christmas! it was a good Christmas this year--we had some out of town family from my mom's side in to celebrate on Christmas day which is something we haven't had in a long time. they stayed around the day after christmas to hang out in atlanta and visit the aquarium! it was a nice time. now i am back at work and will hopefully be working some extra days before school starts mid-january. of course i hope to have some good time with family and friends before that comes!
i must say that this year christmas felt different to me--often i try to read the Christmas story and just remember the "reason for the season." but amidst the shopping and buying, i've been asking the Lord to bring to life more of what it is all about--just desiring refocus so as to not get lost in it all. i worked christmas eve, and there was nothing particularly difficult about the day, but by the end, i felt so broken. more and more and more i am convinced that nothing can truly change a person without the LOVE of JESUS. his love for those broken, hurting, lost in this world, for those right in front of me everyday, seemed to overwhelm me. his desire for our wholeness drove him to the incarnation-to the point of coming as a man, starting as a little baby. the point of it all just felt more real than ever. of course, being in recovery over the holidays is hard for those i work with--being away from family and all. but really, the holidays are not all about family--even that is missing the point. presents, lights, santa, trees, good food...all great traditions, but nothing to do with Jesus. his love that drove him to come to earth and show us what God was really like. to die for us that we might be whole. that we might know him. even now i am overwhelmed with the thought.
oh that we would grab hold of this! oh that this would be a reality in my life, that everyday this love would be lived out, that who i am is determined by who he says that i am and what he has done for me. that my pride would be cast aside and it wouldn't always be about me.
i am grateful for the moments, for the times when the Lord reveals his heart in this way. it has truly been a gift this Christmas.
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