Preparing....

This year in celebration of our Saviour's birth, we have decided to make a few changes. Some out of sheer necessity. Mostly, because for years, we've want focus on what really matters.

Christmas is an event that IS recorded in Scripture.  Therefore, it is an event that is worth our TIME. Instead of getting caught up in all the frenzy, we are choosing to s l o w  d o w n.....enjoy TIME together with family and close friends.....savor these fleeting moments......reflect on just what the arrival of Christ means to us and for us.

God's grace has been measureless to us this year so simply contemplating on the reason we receive that privilege in the first place by consciously reducing the seasonal distractions seems a proper and most fitting way to end this year and begin a new one......

Although decorations are minimal, we are spending TIME together each evening. Sharing a cup of tea and conversation......reading favorite Christmas stories like The Bird's Christmas Carol and Take Joy! ...... watching our favorite cheesy Christmas movies like A Christmas Story, Elf and of course, old Rudolph. 

Gifts may be smaller than usual:  homemade, handmade, heartfelt. Love, joy, peace....these last longer and cannot be wrapped anyway. Love the ideas on this site.

Most of all we're also taking TIME to prepare our hearts....celebrating Advent at home with daily Scripture readings.  I found a wonderful at home guide here at King of Peace.

Yesterday's reading, Isaiah 1:16-18, really struck me. 

Wash yourselves and be clean!

Get your sins out of my sight.

Give up your evil ways.

 Learn to do good.

Seek justice.

Help the oppressed.

Defend the cause of orphans.

Fight for the rights of widows.

 “Come now, let’s settle this,”

says the Lord.

“Though your sins are like scarlet,

I will make them as white as snow.

Though they are red like crimson,

I will make them as white as wool."

This is why I have peace with God; this is why His grace is sufficient.  This is why my heavy burden of guilt and shame can be lifted. The stubborn stain of my sin is no match against the mercy and compassion of God, the sacrificial, stain-cleansing Blood of His beloved Son. 

If you do not already possess this eternal gift or if you (like I am prone to do) have become complacent about the treasure you've already received, I pray that this will be the Christmas you receive or remember  (as the case may be) with awe and wonder the gifts of God: forgiveness, peace with Him, joy everlasting, life eternal which were all paid for with the blood of that sweet babe lying in a manger.

This unfathomable event, when God Himself stepped down into TIME, to rescue me from an eternity without Him; this is where I choose to turn my TIME and attention this Christmas season.

Won't you join me? How do you and your family prepare for this Advent of the newborn King?