AAhhh, its Christmas!

For us, this is probably the one time of the year that we so look forward to, its the time of the year that we get to go back home and visit our family and friends, its the time we talk about our holidays and, the one thing that probably takes center stage is the Christmas Presents we exchange!

Talking about presents, I am reminded of my childhood days and what I experienced. Santa Claus (also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa), brought the gifts to the homes of well-behaved children on the night of Christmas Eve (24 December), we were told to be good children if we were to get gifts, the fire place was from where Santa entered, we had to sprinkle flour around the fire place to track santa’s footsteps to see where he eventually went and left the presents! Boy, those days were fun days, we looked forward to this with so much enthusiasm!!

As I grew up and became an adult, the whole story began to fade away, I suddenly began to see the real side of Christmas and I am so glad I did, because I was surely not going to pass on the legend to our own children!

Is Christmas for you and me gifts exchanged or under the tree, the LED lights in and outside our homes, the competitions for who has the best looking artificial ‘Christmas Tree’, the e-cards we share on FB, Twitter, Viber and WhatsApp (gone are the days when we wrote Christmas cards!), Duck/turkey/lechon dinners with family and friends, stockings hanging in the living room, and shouts of “Merry Christmas” to those who pass us? Is this really Christmas for us?

However, for many, we may not even know this nor will we care, that Christmas is a time of sorrow. Many don’t have the extra money to buy presents for their children, family, and friends. Many are saddened at Christmastime when they think of their loved ones who will not be able to come home for various reasons. Festive dinners may be only a wish and not a reality for some.

Yet, Christmas can be a season of great joy. It is a time of God showing His great love for us. It can be a time of healing and renewed strength. Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of the Christ child. God sent His Son, Jesus, into the world to be born. His birth brought great joy to the world. Shepherds, wise men, and angels all shared in the excitement of knowing about this great event. They knew this was no ordinary baby. The prophets had told of His coming hundreds of years before. The star stopped over Bethlehem just to mark the way for those who were looking for this special child.

We can truly be happy this Christmas! No matter what may be happening, we can know that we are His children. We then become sons and daughters of God. Heaven will be our home one day!