Standing alone

As the Christmas season has wrapped its arms around all of us I have been addicted more than ever to blog reading. I love hearing the traditions that people participate in and create. My heart is touched to read that people really do still know the true meaning of Christmas. People truly realize that the birth of Christ was the beginning of an event that would play out for the rest of eternity. One blog I read is Losses and Gains and she wrote a particularly beautiful blog about her father (click here). Other blogs have challenged my heart, made me cry, and made me laugh.

Christmas is a time that really joins the hearts of people. It seems like all over the world there are people who are striving to make a difference. As I read and watch I am so encouraged about the heart of people. One thing that I am being challenged with this Christmas is how to deal with this chip on my shoulder. I would love to lie and say that it doesn't exist but it would be just that, A LIE. I carry a chip on my shoulder against people who focus on the materialist side of the holidays. I find myself saying (to my self) "Wow! can you believe that they are spending that on __________?"

"Do they not know that there are children who will die today, because they won't have anything to eat?"

" They could feed a 3rd world country for what they spent on __________. "

I recently saw a video of the President of SouthWestern Baptist Theo. Seminary's house. It is this big to-do at Christmas time. The had trees decorated in every room. With themes from all over the world. People gave up free time to "volunteer" to help decorate. These "volunteers" were proud of all of their hard work and all that they had done for this house. (View Here)
When I think of "volunteering" at Christmas time. I do not think about going into the home of someone who has plenty of money, plenty of food, and WAY TO MUCH TIME, and decorating it. I think about the needy, hungry, the less fortunate.
But here I sat with my chip. I watched the video, all the while being appalled by the $$ and the time that was spent on image. I watch the video wondering if the trees that they have decorated with ornaments from around the world remind them of people. People who have nothing. Nothing to eat, nothing to drink, nothing to sleep in, and definitely nothing to put on a Christmas Tree, much less something under it.

And then I a reminded of some wise words that I read recently. I want to copy them below so that you will be sure and not miss them. This is from another posting on Losses and Gains. These words have forever impacted my Christmas now and to come.


The house is quiet now. Completely, and utterly still. I have been needing this quiet all day. Not because I have needed rest from the noise of my family, but because I have been feeling burdened by the noise of other viewpoints, other perspectives, other versions of what is supposed to be a shared experience. I don't doubt that most people come by their personal views honestly, and with good cause. It is not the grieving, or the lonely, or the broken hearted that I wish to quiet. But there are those who seem to thrive on grumpiness, on complaint, on indignation. The truth is that I am tired of hearing that Christmas is too commercial, too secular, too Americanized, too meaningless. There is validity to all of those arguments, and a mound of evidence behind each of those complaints. But if I allow myself to go there, to join the chorus of discontent, I am the one who will be shortchanged. If I give my energy to hand wringing and fist waving, then I only have less to give to story reading and bedtime prayers. If I grumble and roll my eyes every time I see a Santa mixed in with a nativity scene, then I might miss seeing my daughter's eyes sparkle with delight over every string of lights flung across a bush or rooftop. If I fret and worry that there is no possible way we can pass on our faith to our children without whisking them away to a cave in the mountains, then I have already given in, given up, and the message of Christmas really will have been lost.
I really do understand where people are coming from when they decry all that Christmas has become in our culture. I just can't join in the fray. I need quiet, and prayer, and contemplation, and music, and stories, and laughter, and maybe even some tears. And, for me, the answer isn't to fight the culture, but simply to stand outside it wherever I can, in whatever ways I need. Right now, that might mean a little less blogging and a little more being. Maybe.

I love it where she says, "And for me the answer isn't t fight the culture, but simply to stand outside it wherever I can, in whatever ways I need." WOW!!! These words cause me to lay my chip down. They take the FIGHT out of me. They bring new meaning to "Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with me." I am forever humbled.

Bottom line is that one day we will all stand before our King and be held accountable for our lives. It will not matter how my neighbors lived there lives. Or how "The Hat" at Pecan Manor decorated her house, and who spent the "volunteer" hours there. I will stand alone and all that will matter is me and what I did. I pray that as I stand at the feet of the God Most High, that He will be proud of me, his daughter. I pray that my choices now will always reflect His heart.

God help me to not get caught up in what everyone else is doing. Please help me to not judge others for what they are or aren't doing. Help me to not fault others for not having the same passions as me. God please help me to show grace to others, just as you have shown it to me. On that wonderful day, where I stand alone before your thrown, please have mercy on me. Please hand out grace to me one last time for not doing all that I could in all of my days. In the days that I have here on Earth please pave a road for me that guides me to do much for those that cannot do for themselves. Thank you for your unending grace and Love.