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Amidst the freezing winds of December, Christmas brings us the feeling of warmth and love. It has a sweetness that spreads through this silent night after the joyful chattering dies down. Families return home, trees deck up in lights, kids go to bed early, hanging their socks. The entire life around becomes so shining, so beautiful, and drowned in comfort.
But is it only a Festival? It’s a lot more than that, more than just an evening of celebration, more than the delicious food and drinks. It is an entire life that thrives for one day. It is about the love and the joy that assures to bind people for the rest of the year. If interested, you can check this site out to learn more about the church and the significance of every event. Blogs such as these could be most useful to kids of a certain age. As a result, they can better understand God and grow in faith. Also, if parents and children are interested in learning more about God and Jesus, they can take bible study online from a reputable school.
Inspiring stories that show the true meaning of Christmas
‘O Holy Night’ by Elizabeth Toole
In this story, Elizabeth expresses how amidst despair, she and her family witness their best Christmas. Having moved to a new town, they were in search of a church. She wanted to be part of the community where they settled. As there were already many people enrolled, they did not get the chance to. But she managed to get another contact from the receptionist of the Reverend.
They became a part of that congregation which met at a movie theater with just a few people. Months passed, their church family got bigger. The theater was not able to hold so many people anymore. The congregation shifted to an old barn. November glided into December, and within the blink of their eyes, Christmas was there.
It was unnaturally cold- Elizabeth was concerned with her kids being in that gray barn on such a cold night. They packed blankets, jackets and when they entered, they froze in awe. The barn was beautifully decked with lights- there were stacks of hay, a real manger, a sheep, a donkey, and a cow. There were people with their eyes filled with wonder. All of them were surrounded by shepherds tending the flocks. At that moment, Toole senses that it is what Christmas is. It is about togetherness, sharing, and family, which she at the end of the story refers to as her ‘Holy Family’.
‘A Gift in the Trees’ by Cynthia J. Teixeira
Here Cynthia shares her unfortunate luck in love and how a miracle changes that idea along with her life on the Christmas Eve of 1997. A huge part of Christmas is about couples and proposals. And all around Cynthia Christmas was booming with the people in love who wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. This continued for years, and at last, she was hopeless.
At the age of 31, she meets the love of her life but feels hapless realizing that he too will not be proposing to her on Christmas after being together for two years. She spends her Christmas with her lover and sister with a heavy heart, thinking how she will never see her finger adorned with a diamond, a symbol of love.
But what changes her life altogether is when she returns home and experiences an enchanting scene. She sees the trees in front of her house decked in snow shining under the lights. The sky was packed with glittering stars, which seemed to her as hundreds of diamonds. She realizes at that moment that God is there, and he has heard her. It was his gift to her. She acknowledges her self-worth and the love she deserves not from any other person but herself. Under that night sky, surrounded by thawing snow, she finds herself.
‘A Slice of Life’ by Carol McAdoo Rehme
‘A Slice of Life’ narrates the story of a recently divorced Jean and her Christmas. At the advent of the festival, Jean feels alone even more and decides not to send out cards. But she starts receiving a story in parts from whom she doesn’t know. It was about an orphan who was thrilled about getting his very own orange at Christmas. He had smelled it, touched it before but never had the fruit. But sadly, when his turn came, all the oranges were gone. The orphan’s sadness hurt Jean as she read the story. But the boy got his ‘own’ orange which was made whole having one slice from each other kids. And inside the gift box, Jean finds a chocolate orange for her.
Jean smiles as tears roll down her eyes. She realizes that one thing from her can make someone’s life complete. She thinks about all the people she can gift a bit of her happiness, a slice from her life. Jean then makes copies of the story and wraps them around each slice of her chocolate orange to share it with others.
Christmas is a festival to give, share and love everyone and everything around. It is also about seeing life in a different light. So in the hubbub of celebration, always remember that you can be the Santa of your life and others.