The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year...Is It Really?

With less than one week til Christmas, I've been thinking about the state of things in the world, and have come to the conclusion that if this is in fact the most wonderful time of the year, then why are so many people stressed?   It must be all the hype to make this the best Christmas ever.  Like Clark Griswold in the movie Christmas Vacation, people across the United States are setting themselves up for failure this Christmas.  What I mean is that instead of taking things the way they come  and enjoying them, we build up in our minds how we think Christmas should be, and in doing so make it impossible to achieve.

I know that for myself there have been many, many times when I tried for the "perfect Christmas" too.  I just mucked it up and by the end of the season seemed to be more upset with those around me than I should have been.  I'm sure we've all done that too.

What we should be doing I think is enjoying what time we have with friends and family, not focusing on gifts and how much money we spent.  Which unfortunately seems to be the gauge by which people view whether or not their Christmas is a good one or not.

What happened to the meaning of Christmas?  You know the birth of the Savior of mankind?  That little manger scene that we all had somewhere in our homes years ago during Christmas time which depicted the birth of Jesus?  Yeah, I know that it is not a true representation of what happened, but it is a simple image for us to help remember what happened all those years ago.

I don't want to come across as a Scrooge or anything, but it seems that in the pursuit of having that "perfect" Christmas if we are not careful we could miss the entire meaning of the season.

Remember the reason that Jesus came was so that we could come back into relationship with our Heavenly Father.  Relationship was the goal, and still is.  God wants to have a relationship with us more than anything, and that should be our goal this holiday season too.  To rekindle those relationships with the ones we love.  To make time to enjoy each other and not stress over whether or not the sweater is the right size or color.  It's about people with God and we need to make that our priority as well.

So as you're celebrating this Christmas season, remember to think about why we celebrate Christmas, and then enjoy your time with family and friends regardless of how crazy they might be.  Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!