I am honored and excited to have Shelley posting over here today! Shelley is a Bible college student and Compassion sponsor! She shares about her adventures on her blog Unforced Rhythms of Grace
I find Christmas pretty strange in some ways, especially now that I'm 'growing up'. Even though I've been a Christian since the age of 13, a lot of my teenage mind was still wrapped up in the idea of presents, good food and more presents. Now I'm a 'grown up' at 21, and as Christmas is literally just around the corner, I can honestly say that the presents aren't that much of a big deal.
We celebrate Christmas day at church - my family, along with another family that we are very close friends with, cook Christmas dinner for 20-25 people - those in the church who would otherwise be on their own on this special day - and we eat together, the children open presents, we all watch a movie and then we have tea and go home. And it has been through doing this, and spending the holiday with those who often get overlooked, that I've started to realise that there really is so much more to Christmas, and I've learned firsthand a lot more about loving those who society writes off.
The older I get, the more I'm learning about love, and this year has taught me an especially powerful lesson. Recently, I was listening to the radio and "Drunk" by Ed Sheeran came on. One of the lines in the song says "I'll be drunk again, to feel a little love".You can read my post (Christmas Blog Swap: Love is an Action | Unforced Rhythms of Grace) over on Shelley's blog - Unforced Rhythms of Grace Make sure to check out her blog as she's got so many great posts!
As I get older, I've learned firsthand that I don't need to do anything or be anything to 'get' God's love, because love was born into a stable in a little rundown town over 2,000 years ago.
Shelley
Shelley, I love what your church does on Christmas day!!! What a neat opportunity to bless those who would otherwise be around. I bet it does help change your perspective on the meaning of the day!
ReplyDeleteHannah, it's such an incredible opportunity and I'm so thankful that my church makes space for us to care for those who are less fortunate, or would otherwise be on their own at Christmas. It's such a blessing! :)
DeleteLizzie...what a great idea to host this blog swap! I'm a little embarrassed that it's week 3 and I'm just now finding out about it. Sorry...
ReplyDeleteShelley...great post! Your Christmas day reminds me a lot of how we spent Christmas day when I was growing up. I don't come from a very big family, so we always made sure we included others who had no family around. I so appreciate this example my parents laid out for me. Now that we live 2000+ miles from family, it means alot to us to be able to share holidays with friends who also don't have family around.
Thanks Jill! Glad you are enjoying it now :)
DeleteMy Christmas day is all sorts of crazy, but actually, I would really miss it if we went back to just having Christmas day at home with the four of us..! :)
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