So Much Joy in a Little Light

We were very blessed this past year in many ways. And therefore there is much to talk about here. Admittedly I am having a bit of difficulty zeroing in on one thought as I am reflecting on this last year, but for the sake of my faithful readers’ time I will just leave it at that and this one thought.
Christmas was the most recent event we all took part in. So it stands to reason that I write something about it. Okay.

Now only was I amazed at the number of gifts that were exchanged between us all this year, given financial changes, but what seemed to stick in my mind stemmed from my experience Christmas morning at work before I left to go be with my family. There was quite the level of excitement throughout the night as the kids slept.

Enter Christmas morning. To be accurate, I was actually disappointed. There was no mention of Christ, or of thanks, or the Christmas story. Just nothing of any tradition or history. The way the morning went certainly made me thankful for the way that my family and I proceed through the second greatest holiday ever (Easter would take first place, that will come later of course). When the kids came downstairs, the focused chaos began. Their eyes lit up with excitement as they each saw a pile of gifts all set up for each of them along the couch and then the wrapping that was once hiding the items hung in the air for all of 5 minutes.

And then it was basically over. The kids started looking at each other’s presents and talking about what they were going to play with first. My heart was torn because these kids should have been spending this wonderful time with their families and being able to thank their parents or whomever for thinking of them and buying them their gifts. But instead, due to sin and the effects of sin, they were with us. Even though each of them had a good number of gifts, they have no idea who the gifts come from due to the manner in which the items are obtained or donated to the agency. So these kids can’t even say thanks to someone outside of the ever present sugar daddy of Santa Claus. Good ole’ St. Nick sure would have a problem with the way his name has been used and changed, let alone the fact that his motivation was to please his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Satan has taken Nick’s good deeds and turned them against God.

Now the way my family proceeds through Christmas morning has varied slightly over the years and I am going to bring back the reading of the “Christmas story” from the Bible back to our family next year. But read it like a play, with feeling, with character. Having a 3 year old this year sure made it fun and exciting as it was sort of like a first Christmas for her in some of her realizations and understanding just setting in this year. The level of excitement hit a new level this year. But we don’t just dive in and rip away as fast as we can. No. We like to hand out the gifts 1 at a time or perhaps 2 at a time. So we all can see the face of the receiver and their reaction to the gift. This takes more time and makes the time that much more special. We also allow one small gift to be open on Christmas eve.

And there is where we will rest our eyes. My daughter has been playing with our blue MagLite flashlight quite a bit lately, during the day and evening. So I got her a little blue MagLite of her own. Since we had more gifts for her, we allowed her to open one little gift on Christmas eve. Well it was that flashlight. She was so excited and didn’t want to give it back to me at first even though I had to get it out of the package to get it to work J So while she and mommy went to get ready to go to church for the Christmas Eve service (I had to work that night so I stayed home and tried to sleep), I got it out and all set for her. The look on her face and even during her playing with it with me in her room with all the lights off and door shut, well it was the most precious look that can’t really be described. After she got her coat and gloves on, she wanted to take her special present to church with her, and she smiled so proudly and held that little light close to her heart with such pride, excitement, love, and thankfulness, it seemed as though there was no other gift that would have been as special to her as that one…ever.
We were blessed enough this year that we were able to get her other gifts, but not a single one got that same look and reaction as that simple little flashlight.

How is it so amazing that light brings such joy? It’s simple, it’s all about Christ being the light of the world. And like my daughter’s acceptance of the light, all we have to do is accept that gift of Christ’s substitutionary, redemptive work on the cross for us and resurrection from the dead, thereby defeating death and hell.

God be praised. Without the birth of Christ, how would Christmas ever have come about? It wouldn’t have, duh!!