Christmas Eve

I just love Christmas!  Especially now that I'm grown and have a true understanding of what Christmas is really about- JESUS!  My devotional today was so awesome I had the kids sit down and I told them about it.  I had them imagine they were the shepherds way way back when Jesus was born.  I had them picture the stable and the cold starry night and how the shepherds were tired but kept each other awake by talking and sitting by a fire to keep watch over their precious sheep.  Then I had them imagine that the angels came and sang to them that Jesus was born and told them to go down the hill where he lay in a manger.  How wonderful to imagine that incredible moment of seeing this sweet newborn babe in a lowly manger, the fresh aroma of hay, and the stillness of the night as he lay asleep his whole life ahead of him- our saving grace.  Two weeks ago I taught Trinity the song O holy night.  It's words just give me goosebumps as I think of how all of us are sitting in sin and error and we are pining, longing for the day when he comes and our soul feels it's worth.  Doesn't that just encompass everything we feel before we truly know Jesus?  Before knowing him Christmas was just about presents and Santa...before knowing him my life was about how imperfect and lost I was.  I didn't know how I would ever feel true peace or know that my life was truly worth something.  And then in the quiet of a church service, in a prayer where my soul longed to feel comfort and peace about past sins and regrets I felt his warm loving hand cover my heart, my soul.  I knew it was him because no one else could fill that void that continued to ache in my heart.  And he gave me peace, a peace that comes with every prayer that I cry out to him, with every hug a loved one gives, with every bible reading that seems he's talking just to my soul.  Christmas is so much more than the beautiful lights, the beautiful tree decorated with ribbons and ornaments of past, and stockings hung over the hearth.  It's our savior's birth the best present of all.
  I've already made a red velvet birthday cake for his birthday and tomorrow we'll have balloons and Happy Birthday sign to remember Him!!  The kids (and I) are so excited!  Merry Christmas!