Merry Christmas!

Why do people not say Merry Christmas anymore and instead say Happy Holidays? I realize that there are many holidays celebrated this time of year but I celebrate Christmas. I celebrate Christ's birth to this world to save my soul and anyone else who chooses to believe in Him. When I say Merry Christmas to someone, I mean it. I mean have a Merry Christmas. Take time to think about what Christmas is, Christs birth, His coming into the world.

I don't want to wish people Happy Holidays because I am not celebrating the holidays. I am celebrating Christmas. I would not at all be offended if someone said Happy Hannikah to me because that is what they are celebrating.

I do think that Christmas is downplayed. I heard a story about Wal-Mart this year, they had a Hannikah aisle, a Kwanza aisle and a Holiday aisle. WHAT?! We can call Hannikah and Kwanza what it is but not Christmas? Sounds like discrimination to me. One woman wrote several letters and they changed the name. That is outrageous.

I am a Christian in the Biblical sense of the word. I believe that God sent his son Jesus to this world as a baby (Christmas) and that he died on a cross (Good Friday) and he rose again the third day (Easter). I celebrate and cherish these holidays. What has our culture done to these holidays? Commercialized them. Christmas is all about Santa and gifts. Easter is all about the bunny, eggs and candy. These have been turned into "me" holidays. Everything is about me and what I want and what I get. I don't want Sage to grow up with that mentality. Sure, we will talk about Santa. But I won't let him believe in him. I will never tell him Santa is real. In fact, I will probably tell him it is fine to pretend that Santa is real and is coming but we don't really believe that and if he wants a certain gift, he better tell mom or grandma, cause he'll be disappointed if he only tells Santa! And yes, we will hunt Easter eggs and he will get a basket of candy but he will know the true meaning of Easter and why it is such a special day.

I love to think about Christmas and the coming of God's son to earth. Can you imagine how excited God was that time of year? He knew that he was sending his son to earth to teach us about himself and to die for our sins. I bet he was thinking, oh, I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when they figure out that I am taking away the sins of this world. And how sad he was when we crucified him 33 years later. He sent us his only son and we killed him. I realize it was many years ago, but I can imagine that if I had been alive during that time, I would have been yelling Crucify, Crucify! Why? Because I am a sinner. And I don't like to think about being a sinner. I don't like to think that I was born a sinner. But I see it in Sage already. He is a sinner. He hits other kids. He yells meanly at other kids. He doesn't come when I say come here. I didn't teach him to do these things, he just does. Why? Because he is a sinner. He needs Jesus to help him to obey and to be kind. Just like I do. Everyday, I need Jesus to help me be patient with Sage, to help me not judge others, to help me live a life that reflects the goodness of Jesus.

Merry Christmas!