The B's Hive: 2012

For so many years, I have struggled with just what Christmas was all about. Amidst all the hustle and bustle, it seemed like I must be missing something. We humans tend to blow practically everything way out of proportion. I felt like the true meaning behind the celebration was buried beneath a boatload of wrapping paper and bows, Black Friday and earlybird sales, days off work, mulled wine, pine scented candles and mistletoe....the list doesn't seem to end. There were years I hid from the entire month of December. There were years I merely went through the motions. There were years I saw a glimpse of 'something' in my child's eyes. There were years I could see nothing through the flood of tears, the storm of emotions. I yearned for a nativity one year - some friends gave me one. After a few more years, I realized the 'something' wasn't in the nativity. I struggled with fact and fantasy.... mixing the two seemed ridiculous. Tradition verses religion. That seemed drastic. Why wasn't I able to pare it down to a basic, simple understanding and thereby move forward in contentment? Several reasons come to mind, probably a smidgeon of each being appropriate.

This year, I can tell I am finally maturing - at least in this area a little bit. :) Because it is indeed NOT about all those aforementioned things. The Christmas season is about remembering and celebrating.
Celebrating birth and birthdays.
The birth of my 5th grandchild.
The birth of a relationship with my firstborn - today being her birthday.
The birthday of my re-birth.
The birthday of my Savior.

I choose to put up lights because Jesus came into a world of darkness to bring light and life - He IS the light of the world.

I choose to get a tree and put meaningful-to-our-family decorations on it because Jesus is the Creator of all things, and by choosing and bringing in an evergreen tree and taking care of it, I am reminded that He sustains all life; that he takes care of His chosen ones. By the ornaments - a special one for each year - I am reminded of all the blessings He has given me.

I choose to hang up stockings because my first mother-in-law made a special one just for me and I love her so much - we fill them on Christmas Eve because it's fun!

I choose to sing Christmas songs - the ones that speak of the real story of redemption and remind us of Emmanuel - God with us.

I choose to give gifts because it is more blessed to give than to receive and because that is what the one true God gave in Jesus: the greatest gift of all. Salvation from sin.....Deliverance from death.

And after a lonnnnng cold winter of frustration, disillusion, and confusion about the Christmas 'holiday' that the world celebrates with disconnected reckless abandon, I am resolutely convinced that celebrating Christmas isn't wrong, it's just wrongly celebrated. God is holy and righteous. I am a sinner. God is faithful. I am forgetful. God is strong. I am weak. God is good and always perfect. I make bad choices and need forgiveness. In fact, it is in all my failings, weaknesses and sufferings that I truly know for certain that Jesus is the Redeemer of my soul, because I would not, could not gain the victory over my sin or beat death. No one ever has because no one ever can. We all sin and we all die. And there is nothing we can do about either.

But....
In the beginning, God! God made everything. Then God gave man one simple rule to obey, warning that the consequence for disobedience would be death. But man chose to disobey; he chose to sin against God. Now we all suffer the consequences of that wrong choice, because we are all descendants of the first man, Adam. God sent Jesus into the world, conceived by God the Holy Spirit, born [into humanity] of the virgin Mary. He is the only perfect man, Emmanuel - God with us. He was born to live the sinless life that Adam failed to live and then to pay, once for all, the penalty for Adam's sin (for all man's sin)....the penalty being death. Jesus paid the penalty for all who would believe. He paid by dying on the cross. A sinless man dying for all the sins of the world. Then Christ Jesus rose from the grave, because he is God. He conquered death! The last enemy.

Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me" and "you must be born again..." Jesus was explaining that a Spiritual birth must take place within a person's heart in order for that person to enter into the kingdom of heaven, which is victory over sin and death; a reconciliation with God our Creator - eternal life with God the Father. Without being "born again" no one will conquer sin or death. No one will see heaven.

Without the gift of faith - the gift from God to believe that I am separated from God by my sin and I need someone else to pay the price of freedom for me, I will be forever lost in the darkness of my sin and I will die without having been restored to a right relationship with the One who gave me life.

But thanks be to God who has given me this new birth, through the gift of His Son Christ Jesus, the only one who can and did pay the price in full!

This year I am remembering and celebrating with great joy all the births in my life, including my own re-birth, and most importantly: the birth of my Savior the Lord Jesus Christ!

Yesterday afternoon we meandered up the Columbia River Gorge to Hood River, crossed over to the Washington side, continued heading East through Bingen and up past White Salmon to Trout Lake.......in search of the ever-tantalizing Huckleberry Milkshake. The Hwy 141 fire was still burning in several places. The smoke mixed with the sunset was very beautiful.