It amazes me that so many people like to decorate for Christmas, but yet is surprises me at how few of their decorations are Christ centered. What type of oranaments are on their tree, what is the outside of their homes decorated like, what about the inside of their homes? Our home is decorated both inside and out, and we have an artificial tree because the Princess is allergic to real Christmas trees. Even if you do or don't know our family personally, you'll know that we are Christians because we display our faith at Christmastime. Our front yard has the nativity scene with Jesus, Mary and Joseph with a wooden cross lit with red lights directly behind them. Inside our home our tree is not only decorated with ornaments from all over the world and ornaments that the kids made when they were little, but it is also decorated with ornaments of faith. Also in our home we have our Nativity displayed on our coffe table in our living room. The word JOY is displayed on our fireplace mantel to remind us and those that enter our home that we are to display and observe JOY all the time(Jesus, Others, Yourself). We also have a Jesse Tree displayed in our kitchen. Some of you may better recognize it better as an Advent Tree. We enjoy spending time together in the evenings after dinner around the Jesse Tree reading the days readings and remembering and recounting the numerous accounts in the Bible that led to the birth of Jesus our Savior. If you've never had a Jesse Tree in your home I encourage you to make one with your family, it's a great way to grow deeper in your walk with the Lord as well as a great way to come together as a family and lift eachother up.
If someone were to drive by your home or walk inside it, would your faith be displayed? I have many friends and family whom are not ashamed to display their faith. Yet, I also have many where their faith is not displayed. Isn't that the real reason why we are on this earth, to be a witness for Christ and to reach others for Him? How sad it is to go into homes and not see the real reason for the season displayed. And you know what, it shouldn't just be at Christmastime that we display our faith, it should be everyday, everyday of the year.
What have you done this season of your life for someone in need, for someone that is less fortunate than you, what have you done that was selflessness of you? For some all they want is a smile, for others a helping hand. Bless someone that needs a blessing in their life. You don't have to do anything that costs a lot of money, some things take no money at all. Yesteray the kids and I baked all day, after baking we made up 5 boxes of treats and took them to people that we knew that were sick or widowed. The smile on their faces when they received the treats from us were priceless. This morning I placed a small gift in our mailbox for our mailcarrier. How many times do our mailcarries go unnoticed. They are always there delivering our mail to us through storms, rain and snow. I wanted our mailcarrier to know that our home appreciated her. These examples didn't cost much, but to the ones on the receiving end, it was the world.
This season, meditate on what the season is really about and this season of your life will be one of the best seasons of your life.
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