Christmas is ...

When I was growing up, Christmas meant waking up early and rushing to wake my parents up without sneaking a glance at the tree.  This is my first Christmas as a married man, a father, and it is completely different on this side of the tree.  We have Christ's love in our hearts and a true desire for His grace and His mercy to fall upon each of us.  But we don't have a tree.

The funny thing about the tree ... in our home, we don't see it as honoring Christ.  In its own way we see it as a kind of worshipesque symbol of Christmas itself.  I see that each of us has our own walk - and that walk is magnified during Christmas.

I also find it interesting that discussing this private aspect of our lives is hard.  It is hard to put forth these statements upon a blog, knowing that others may potentially read them.  But the truth is something, when properly dispensed in a balanced manner, that is priceless.

But the one thing that most struck me on this fine, early Christmas morning, is how much I love my family.  It is easy to miss - and most of the time it is like a warm blanket that coats everything, obviously there but easily missed.  I don't always feel it.  Kind a like the difference between mountain top and valley bottom walks with Christ, there is an odd valence to some days that make each resonate with their own "feeling".

So today I feel closer to my wife, my son, and who God wants me to be than I normally do.  And as a result I feel closer to God.

Because, for me, that is what Christmas is really about.

It is about a kind of rekindling who Christ is to you, who you are in Christ, and the glory of being and doing who you are in His will.

He is the master conductor.  We are his orchestra.

And we are made to dance.