Don’t you hate it when you’re in a hurry getting ready and you take out a sweater to wear from the closet, you find out that it has “hanger” shoulders?
Doesn’t it annoy the heck out of you when you take out change from your pocket, you get a ball of lint along with it?
Doesn’t it chap your hide to find yourself spending the entire Christmas morning wrestling with the tamper-proof packaging of your kids’ toys? Why do they make it so difficult to remove toys from the almost impenetrable wrapping consisting of hard plastic and cleverly constructed cardboard boxes held together by twisty wires and doubly-applied scotch tape? When you finally set the toy free, you find out that you don’t have the four “C” batteries that it requires. And you’d have to wait till the next day because everything’s closed on Christmas Day.
Don’t you hate it when you find out a few days before Christmas that all four of the vans’ tires need to be replaced when you only brought it in for one flat tire?
And then it dawns on you – it’s good that the tires were replaced before Christmas. With all the travel to and fro friends’ and family’s places, you’re glad the family is safe on the road with those new tires. And wasn’t the money that you spent on them instantly replaced by the generous giving of your employer?
And the sweaters, silly you, be glad you have something warm to wear this winter season. And be glad you have change to give out as tip to the local barista or as donation to the Salvation Army person in front of Wal-Mart.
And be glad your children receive gifts when children across the globe… blah, blah, blah (insert guilt-inducing blather here).
Ok, seriously, there’s so much to be thankful for this Christmas. Not only about receiving things but being able to give as well. I was worried about not being able to give gifts to our nieces and nephews and friends’ kids but my wife found a way to do so. She volunteered several days during her Christmas break at a publisher of children’s books and she got paid in kind with their wonderful books and toys.
If things are not going smoothly for you this holiday season, remember that Mary and Joseph had it rough on the very first Christmas. Joseph was traveling with his pregnant wife, whose child technically wasn’t his. They were turned away from inns and ended up in a lowly stable where the baby Jesus was laid on a manger, where animals fed from. The King of Kings had truly humble beginnings here on earth. From a spiritual angle, the Son of God condescended himself as man to live among his creatures only to be led to the slaughter, as a sacrifice for our sins. This act was the greatest expression of God’s love to man, who for the life of him, cannot save himself.
Merry Christmas.
