12 Fridays Until Christmas: How to Be Ready to Simply Receive Jesus

Now just 12 more Fridays till Christmas.  12 more Fridays until the candles burn low and we’ll linger, in the twinkling glow of the tree on Christmas Eve, with this aching wonder if we somehow missed the holy wonder of Him in the blur and whirl of it all.   12 more Fridays… till we really wished that we had actually prepared Him more room this year.  I catch an article just yesterday about the release of a new holiday album, “The Worst Christmas Ever” – and this song about a dad who ends up furiously burning the Christmas presents and a whole family Christmas that went sideways in all these tender, painful ways. When does a painful Christmas begin to feel a bit like unwrapping proof of a failing life? Why begin the count down to Christmas — to only end up counting all the ways we have to do better to earn the gift of Christ?   When did Christmas become a life-audit of whether we are passing at life or failing the very worst?  When did Christmas become an annual performance audit: Do we have enough big gifts to express our love? Do we have a family that is […]