Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I know, I know, Christmas was a week ago. But isn't Christmas really a season? Yes, a season that begins at 4am the day after Thanksgiving and ends whenever I get around to actually mailing out the Christmas cards!

This time of year many things compete for our attention: decorating, food, gifts, shopping, food, parties, letters, food. Sadly, not often enough does our attention focus on the ONLY meaning of Christmas--Jesus Christ. As we journeyed through this holiday season one word was repeatedly uttered in my mind--REST

The holidays were a blur (aren't they usually?). But for what? Why does it have to be this way? Everything travels at mach speed beginning with preparations for Turkey Day. Buy the groceries, bake the pies, make the side dishes, what about appetizers?, bake the bread, set the table, buy the wined, don't forget to defrost the bird!, mash the potatoes, lumps in the gravy?, eat during half-time--OH MY! And it doesn't end when the last dish is wiped clean. In fact that is when things really take off! Read ALL the ads, find the best deals, buy all the gifts, battle the crowds, write the letters, bake cookies, what about the mailman?, wrap the gifts, send the packages, more cookies, attend a party, a gift for the grocery clerk?, decorate the tree, the house, not enough lights?--UGH! I'm exhausted. Its no wonder why January sees the largest increase in anti-depressant medication! (I made that up) And the big question is "when can I rest?" The answer is another question (don't you hate that?). "Where's Jesus?" He's the voice that is whispering in my ear "REST-you don't have to buy a gift for your hairstylist (as if I have one), REST-don't spend so much, its the thought that counts, REST-its okay if the mantle is bare, REST-you can say no to the office party and spend the evening with your family, REST. Why can't I listen? Because the world is screaming the opposite in my other ear! But when you're sitting in Christmas Eve service and the lights are low as you sing 'Silent Night', holding your kiddos close, wondering how you could have been screaming at them just 45 min earlier, you begin to realize how silly you've been rushing around here and there, worrying about worldly issues and completely ignoring Him who was sent to earth to give you REST from the world. Then it hits you--He was sent for you while you were yet a sinner and a warm, comfortable, sweet feeling fills your heart as tears fill your eyes--that's Jesus--that's Christmas--that's REST.

Here's to a Christmas season that never ends and a New Year in which you are able to REST in HIM!