Merry Covid-Christmas everyone!
Earlier in the month the Encouragers team took time out of our busy day to share a meal together and spread a little cheer with each other. 2020 has been challenging for our clients and the Encouragers Team has responded with courage, compassion, and sometimes a little humor. We need to recharge our batteries once in a while so we have more to give others. This is just one way we gather as a team to fill each other's cups to overflowing so we can pour encouragement into the empty cups of others.
Christmas is my most favorite time of the year...normally. This year, with mandated shut downs and limitations to gathering, it just doesn't feel like Christmas. No holly and no jolly. Even Santa is pretty irritated at the way Mall Santa's are being locked up behind plexiglass and face shields. One ray of light has been an on line Santa service that allows the kids to ZOOM Santa. Parents provide individualized information about their kids, pets, where they live, etc and Santa talks to the kids and "knows" who they are. The person who told me of this service said it was, "The best $25 they've ever spent and will never go back to the Mall Santa again." I don't know...I'm kind of tired of looking at a screen and feeling like a fish in a fishbowl. But I'm of the old generation who was able to experience face-to-face communication...only 1 year ago.
So, however you enjoy your holiday this weekend, consider it all joy. The true meaning of Christmas is not found in a Mall or Zoom Santa. It's not found in the Christmas tree, the lights, or the presents. It's not the food or drink that makes Christmas special; it's the people. Gather around the dinner table and share how grateful you are for the ones who are with you. Pray for those who are not with you or who are traveling during this weekend. Consider the gifts you give as tokens of your affection. And realize how blessed you truly are. But most of all, remember that we have the holiday because of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem so many years ago. And that his birth meant, and still means today, that we have salvation in a Savior who at the age of 33 died on a cross for us. Let us celebrate, but let us know why we celebrate Christmas. It is Christ...who makes the day.
"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
Luke 2:11