Getting Away from the World's View of Christmas

Halloween came and went. Can't believe it's already November. We didn't have a single trick-or-treater come to our house. We bought 3 bags of candy for the occasion and now we are stuck eating all of it by ourselves, it will be hard, but we're up for the task. I think eating a piece of chocolate for lunch and dinner over the next few days will ensure all the candy gets eaten before the holidays. Speaking of the holidays, I am really excited about Christmas. I get excited about Christmas every year, but this year is different. Not only will it be our first married Christmas, but it will also be our first Christmas in our house! Trust me when I say we are already looking for "first Christmas together" and "our first house" ornaments to mark the occasion. I am looking forward to Christmas morning that feeling of being with the one you love. We are not planning on getting each other much for Christmas, we have already set our price limit and most people would probably disagree with our low price limit. We are not big on giving gifts, in fact, I would rather not get anything for Christmas. This year has been a whirlwind of celebrations for us and with those celebrations we have received lots of gifts from friends and family members. I probably couldn't tell you who gave us what as wedding gifts or housewarming gifts, but I can tell you that with every gift we became more humble and aware of the fact that there are thousands of people in the world that don't receive gifts, not on their birthday, wedding day, and not even on Christmas. We live in a world that is obsessed with consumption and materialism. Just take a glimpse on social network sites and it's easy to find out what someone had for breakfast, what someone wants for Christmas, how they love their new iPhone, or how they can't wait to fill their house with Christmas decorations. What would happen if all of our material processions were striped away from us? Would we know how to just be with friends and family? What happened to the old days when just sitting around and talking with people was enough? I don't have all the answers to these questions. Just something for us all to ponder. How will you spend your Christmas? We will celebrate Christmas by reflecting on all that God has given us. God has given us unconditional love and forgiveness of sins. God made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could know what true love and grace is.