Christmas

The holidays have always been a hard time for me. My memories of growing up are broken and spotty, and for that I am thankful. What I do remember from the holiday season is mostly negative. Bad things happened over the years, and each season seems like an anniversary of those things. It is easy to get stuck on that, and compensate by going

ho-ho-ho overboard on "Christmas cheer" to make up for it. It never works.

Christmas isn't about Santa or gifts. It isn't about spending time with family or serving others. Those things are not bad, they just aren't the point. Christmas is about God coming to earth as a baby. Choosing to live as one of us to show us how. Living a sinless life so that He could be the sacrifice that would allow us to one day live with Him. Forever. It is the beginning of a love story so incredible that countless believers have given their lives instead of denying it. Thousands of years later, and it is still drawing people to Him. The world may twist what Christmas is, but people are changed when they learn the truth.

I still struggle with the holidays. I still have the memories of years gone by. But when I think of the truth of Christ's birth, I can't help but also see the Cross. It reminds me of my future and gives me hope for today.