It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I just love Christmas time! I love to walk up the stairs and open the door to the warm, inviting scent of cinnamon spice candles and homemade cookies. I love setting out the pieces of my nativity each year, placing the delicately carved figures of Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus on the mantel with the shepherds, wise men and angels gathered around, gazing in awe at the Savior lying in the manger. 

 

I also love hanging up our stockings and buying little surprises to put in my husband's stocking. I love making gifts and have made quite a few this year. (I won't ruin the surprise in case I made one for you!) Making gifts is so much more personal, fun and rewarding. I'm blessed to have had the time to do that this year. And I love all of the greenery and the lights, the shopping and the gifts. Although trying to wrap gifts has been a bit of challenge this year with my kitties trying to shred the paper and unroll miles of ribbon from their cardboard spools!

 

Truly, this IS the most wonderful time of the year. A time to remember Christ and his sacrifice, Christ and the amazing Incarnation that we can never fully explain.

 

It's also a time to remember those who do not know Christ. 

 

As you may know, I am writing a book called Generation Hex (co-authored with my brother-in-law, Dillon Burroughs) and the Lord has really given me a burden this year for the many millions of people in the world who do not know God and are seeking truth in the wrong places. My concern was heightened this year by the following two things:

 

1. First of all, Christmas is becoming more and more secularized. We're beginning to see an emphasis on Pagan traditions such as Yule, and books like Pagan Christmas on the shelves. I also noticed that the window of our local Sephora store has a huge photo of a goth-looking model wearing heavy purple eye makeup. The caption says, "The Brilliant Sorceress." What does that have to do with celebrating Christmas? Pagan ideas and references to witchcraft are starting to become so commonplace that we hardly even notice them anymore. But we need to be able to identify these elements and separate them from our celebration of Christ's birth.  

 

2. I've also noticed a sad trend this year of stores emphasizing what people are going to buy for THEMSELVES for Christmas. The window of one store (I think it was The Buckle) had a caption about "what I'm getting myself this year." And I have heard countless radio ads with the following basic message: "You've bought a ton of gifts for other people. But what are you getting for yourself this Christmas?"

 

Is that the message of Christmas? I find so much joy in focusing on the birth of the Christ Child. I also really like to spend time with family, and to make and buy gifts for my family and friends. The gifts don't have to be expensive. They don't have to be extravagant. My strategy is just to NOT wait until the last minute, and also to observe people carefully to see what they like.   

 

So what's your news this Christmas? Any comments on what I've shared? Have you seen or heard any ads that have concerned you?

 

How can we help keep Christ in Christmas?