It tends to be very easy to fall into the commercialism of this time of year. All of the lights, music, decorations, festivities, and presents are almost addicting. Everyone is happy and friendly, buying gifts for loved ones and sharing special memories.
I am one of those people that others tend to consider a “Christmas Freak.” Starting the day after Halloween (and sometimes before) I have the Christmas music playing, and it takes everything in my power not to bust out the decorations before Thanksgiving (I do usually wait for that)! I love how happy everyone is and that it can bring so many families together. Even if it is just this one day a year… families come together to share laughter and fond memories that last a lifetime.
One of my favorite Christmas memories is the year we got my sister a singing farm keyboard. It played this song that I can still sing to this day. My sister was about 3 years old, and she played this song over and over and over and over and over… You get the point. It drove my family absolutely crazy! But everyone tolerated it because it was Christmas, and it meant that we were all together having a great time.
This year is going to be a much different one for me. This is my first year as an official firefighter’s wife, and lucky for me, my husband is on shift. Starting at 6:00am that morning through 6:00am the next, he will be working for Montgomery County, saving the lives of its people. This is one of the most upsetting pieces of news to me. A holiday that I love so dearly, that I love to share with those who are most important to me is going to be missing the main part – my husband.
The more I think about that last part, the more I realize perhaps this is actually a good thing. Over the last few months the Lord has really been tugging on my heart, asking me to get more involved with church and to focus more on my relationship with Him. My husband is not the most important part of Christmas, neither are the lights, the music and the presents, even my family and friends. The most important part of CHRISTmas is Christ. For so many years Jesus has sat on the backburner during Christmas. Sure, I would think about the fact that he was born into the world and thank God for all that He has done and for that promise, but it was a momentary thought: Christmas, to me, was everything I listed above.
So let me challenge you, along with myself, this Christmas season to think of who or what is the main focus of our minds and hearts when it comes to Christmas. Is it the colorful lights, the merry music, and the giving and receiving of presents, or is it the real reason for Christmas? That tiny baby in a manger, our Savior, Lord and King!
~Megan Schoolfield
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