The True CHRISTmas Story.

   I love Christmas. I love wearing scarves and sweaters. The snow (artificial or real; though artificial is mostly what I'm familiar with being that I'm from South Texas). The Christmas carols and songs played on the radio. The eggnog and hot chocolate. The decorations, indoor and out. The Christmas cards received from old friends and distant family. The old traditions that come alive during the season. The Christmas parties with friends. The presents you get to shop for and unwrap as the day draws near. I especially love visiting family and just being together with people I love and care about.

   Although all of those things are great, that isn't the reason for the season. The whole point of Christmas isn't to go visit some strange relatives and get lots of presents. If that's what your focus is for this magnificent holiday, then you've missed it. You might as well skip the holiday altogether, because it's not worth celebrating without knowing the real meaning.

   Christmas is about the story of Jesus. Christmas is about this baby who came from heaven to be born of a virgin (yes, you read that right. A virgin!) And to give light and share with the world about Yahweh, the God of the Universe.

  Throughout this holiday season, I've been blessed to play a main role in my home-school Christmas play. It's the story of this unique, old toy store with magical, talking toys. This mega toy store owner buys our lease and comes to make changes to this little toy store. Throughout this mega owner's attempt to change this old store, these toys and their owner (that's me!) tell him the true meaning for Christmas, which is the birth of Jesus and God's plan for this world.

   The play truly is wonderful, and very powerful. Throughout rehearsals and reading lines and such, the script spoke to me. The entire story is told by little children, so it isn't exactly the most specific and on-point story you've ever heard. But they tell it like it is: the story isn't sugarcoated. They say that we are all like a Raggedy-Ann doll. You remember those old dolls? Well, did you know that you're exactly like her? Without Jesus, we're all Raggedy-Ann dolls: raggedy and stained by our sin. But God loved us enough to send a Savior to protect us from the judgment of sin. God loved YOU and ME enough to send someone to die for us so that we could live forever with him in Heaven. Wouldn't you want to spend eternity with the person who spoke you into existence and cared for you more than anyone you could ever imagine? I know I would.

   You first have to ask for God's forgiveness. You don't think you've done anything wrong? Well, that would be silly. Everyone has. We're all sinners; we've all done something wrong. Maybe you cheated on your math test, or even stole something that wasn't yours. Whatever you did, you're a sinner. Just like me. And the sad truth is, you and I will always be sinners. No matter how hard we try, we'll never be perfect or even come close to measuring up to what God is. But that's the amazing part. We don't have to. We have God's grace. Grace is getting something you don't deserve. We all deserve to die alone, and spend eternity in Hell, the most awful and disastrous place you could ever imagine. But God loved us enough to send his only son, Jesus Christ, to pay for our sins and die for us. That way, we could all live with God in Heaven. Isn't that amazing?

So while you're sipping your hot chocolate and enjoying Hallmark movies, or going to spend time with those wacky relatives of yours, take a minute to think about the TRUE meaning of Christmas. And thank God for his abundance of grace, which lets you enjoy Christmas so much more.

With Love, Rebecca