O come let us adore Him

Dec 19

I've been so inspired in the last several weeks by a handful of blogs I've read about what some of my friends and sisters in Christ do at CHRISTmas time.

Amazing things like this.

And this.

These beautiful women, in their own wonderful way, are keeping their family’s eyes on Christ, and encouraging others to do the same.

Random acts of kindness.

Giving rather than receiving.

Focusing, with great anticipation, on the ONE true story.

Our family throws a "Happy Birthday Jesus" party on Christmas Eve. The kids bake cupcakes and we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. A fun tradition indeed, and a simple way to remind our kids about the true meaning of Christmas. But oh how my heart longs for more. More of Christ at Christmastime. More than just cupcakes and the Happy Birthday song.

I had a lot of time to think about all of this over the last two days as our family spent sixteen hours driving from Old Greenwich, Connecticut to Atlanta, Georgia so we can spend Christmas with our extended family. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and dear and old friends, here to welcome our precious boys to all that is familiar and that which feels like home away from home. I am thankful we can give this gift to our boys in a time when they keep wondering, “when will we have our own home again?”

During the long road trip, I decided to share with our boys some of the things I’d read about in my friend's blogs.

And then I asked,

“So, Cal, how would you feel about us giving, rather than receiving gifts this year? How about we give gifts to those who really need them instead of getting gifts that we merely just want, but don’t really need?”

And Cal responded,

“Um, well, how about we do both?!?”

I let his honest answer sit with me while I asked our other two boys the same question.

“Owen, can you tell Mommy one gift you would like for Christmas, and then tell Mommy about some of the gifts you’d like to give?

“I want Leggos Mommy."

“Okay, awesome. And what would you like to give?”

“I want to give Leggos too.”

“And who would you like to give the Leggos to?”

“I want to give them to ME.”

And before I could ask Brennan his thoughts on how we could love and serve others at Christmas, he chimed in, “Yeh mom, let’s give AND get.”

I turned to my mom, who was riding in the car with us, and said, “These kinds of conversations reveal the true nature of our hearts, don’t they."

I can understand why my kids said what they said, because my own fallen heart says "me first" too. It's why we need Jesus, and it's why my deepest desire is to lead them in a way that helps them live in light of what Jesus has taught us………

Acts 20:35

We must remember what the Lord Jesus said, “We are more happy when we give than when we receive.”

Our fallen hearts are prone to choose “get” over “give.”

Thank God for Jesus who is faithful, who is selfless, who gave it ALL to rescue and redeem our fallen hearts.

Thank God for Christmas - for the incarnation of the Son.

In light of the recent tragedies in our nation, most notably in Newton, CT that devastated and broke all our hearts, my prayer is that this Christmas will be one where we celebrate His glorious and miraculous birth with greater expectation than we ever have before - that the celebration of His birth will bring renewed hope and renewed joy.

O come let us ADORE Him this Christmas with hearts that long to love and serve and give in light of how He loved, and served, and gave……humbly arriving as a baby in a manger with this purpose: To love and serve and give. To bring peace and hope and healing. To rescue and redeem and make right.

He has already given us all we need.

You're already all I need

already everything that I could hope for

You're already all I need

You've already set me free

already making me more like You

You're already all I need

Jesus

You're already all I need

........

Every gift that I receive You determine just for me

but nothing I desire compares to You

~ Already All I Need by Christy Nockels

It’s not a Christmas song, but it should be because it reminds me I already have all I need (and could ever really want) in the coming of Christ our newborn King.

And if I allow that truth to penetrate the deepest part of my heart, I am set free to give and love and serve as Jesus did. And if I am purposeful in teaching these truths to my kids at Christmas and in the coming year, they can also be set free to give and love and serve as Jesus did.

Isaiah 9:6

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

In His great and sacrificial love for you and me, our newborn King already gave us all we ever need.

And for Christmas, all I really want is a heart that truly trusts in that.

I want the WONDERFUL COUNSELOR to guide and direct me. I want the MIGHTY GOD to be my ROCK. I want the EVERLASTING FATHER to wrap His compassionate arms around me as my Abba. And I want the PRINCE OF PEACE to replace the heaviness in my heart with His perfect peace.

I want more of Him.

O come let us adore Him

Christ our Lord.