Take a look at that, would you? That is my birthday cake, made by my sweet daughter-in-love, Greta. She incorporated two things I love - hearts and Santa! (The heart is upside down, can you make it out?)
I have heard it said that having a birthday so close to Christmas is terrible but I have never felt that way. My parents always made very sure there was a definite line between my birthday and Christmas. I never got a birthday present wrapped in Christmas paper. Well, at least not from them.
We can all learn a very important lesson here.....whether it's a birthday or anniversary or even Christmas ~ it's not about the presents, it's about the PRESENCE! The presence of Christ in our everyday lives, day in-day out. Every single day.
My whole family has been impressed to follow that example this year and we are not buying presents for each other. Shoot, we're not even trading names! We will buy something for each baby in the family but the adults are foregoing the presents for the PRESENCE of Christ in our lives. We are all opting to pray that the Lord show us how to better serve others this Christmas season. Even our church has begun something called "The Gift" and it is our intention to be the "hands and feet of Jesus" this season as we take care of those many families in need, both physically/financially and spiritually. We want to be known for sharing the love of Christ and the message of the Good News that Jesus has come so that we need not spend an eternity in hell, separated from God. This is the season that we celebrate Christ's birth, not who gets the most toys!
Still full of birthday cake, I will cut this short today. I urge you to find a family or even one person this week or next that is much less fortunate than you. Maybe you've seen TV coverage of a family whose house just burned down. I'm almost certain they will need clothing and probably even Christmas presents for their kids. Is there a nursing home or senior center near your community? You might make a visit and find out who doesn't have any family to visit them and drop in just to cheer them up. There are hundreds of ideas out there for making everyone really feel the true magic of the Christmas spirit. You won't have to look very far.
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