jesus b-day

For the past 20 years I have been so excited about Christmas that the days leading up to it I could hardly breath (this statement may be a bit of an exaggeration). I knew that I would wake up that morning and receive a bunch of presents that my parents and friends spent too much money on, hoping to feel the joy everyone raves about on Christmas.

I have been unsatisfied for 20 years. 

20 years it took me to understand why I always felt unsatisfied during our trip to Mississippi on the 26th. 20 years it took me to realize why we make such a hoopla about Christmas. 20 years I sat expecting to receive. 

This year was different for me. 
Yes, I was excited about the gifts that my parents had prepared for the clan. Yes, I did feel a bit unsatisfied as we drove to visit family. And actually, yes, I did realized the hoopla everyone makes about Christmas.

Jesus.

I mean we have all seen the live nativity that the big church down the road from your house puts on every year, we all understand that we are celebrating the birth of a baby who was born with a bunch of cows and sheep. But whoa, it's Jesus we're talking about here. I mean it is so perfect that he was born in the worst conditions, so perfect that he grew up as a carpenter, so perfect that he never made a bajillion dollars or proved his worth to anyone. He didn't need to because, well, He was and is perfect. And he lives in us, friends. 

Yeah, well I haven't been to church or believed any of that since high school. 
Yeah, I stopped going to church because I felt like all they wanted me to do was obey a bunch of rules.
Yeah, I felt too guilty because everyone around me was rich and perfect. 

Okay. So? 

If you really believed all the stuff about Jesus forgiving your sins and you accepted that, then you're still a Christian. Jesus still lives inside of you no matter what you've done with your life.That's what grace is. It goes so much further than money, so much further than rules, so much further than your parents or a group of people (church), it starts with you and Jesus. 

So what is Christmas all about? Jesus. Grace. Love.

And when it comes Christmas time we show grace and love because Jesus showed us grace and love. Because when we understand what Jesus did for us we can't help but share it. 

Happy Birthday Jesus and Merry Christmas (35 minutes late)