Mark + Miss = Ava = No Sleep but Lots More Fun

I love Christmas. It’s literally better than all of the other holidays combined. I’ve always enjoyed Christmas, but in the past few years I’ve really grown to love it. I’m not quite certain what has caused me to really love the holiday, but I think it comes down to the fact that our family has really tried to simplify the whole season. We’re not one of those families that have to give each other $500 gifts to make us feel appreciated—not that there’s anything wrong with this type of thing, it’s just not something we’re big on. I think it’s easy to lose sight of the whole spirit of Christmas whenever people are focused the fact that they got the most expensive, most awesome, most (fill in the blank) gift ever. It’s quite hard to appreciate the simple things in life if you’re conditioned into believing “love equals expensive gifts”. It kind of throws off your whole perception of God too. The first of God’s concerns is not to give me gifts. The first of His concerns is having a true and deep friendship relationship with me. Whatever gifts he happens to give are just an added bonus. It occurs to me celebrating Christmas should be the same way. I should be able to be happy even if I don’t have a single gift to open this Christmas. Christmas should first be about the fact that we have each other. I should be able to happy in the knowledge that I have a wonderful father, mother, brothers, sister-in-law, and wife that loves me beyond what I understand—and unconditionally. And I am happy. I am genuinely ecstatic that I’m able to say, “I’m loved”. I’m loved by God, loved by my family, and loved by our 2 little kitties. That’s enough for me. The fact that my family will be giving me gifts on top of it all is just an added bonus. I don’t deserve any of this. That’s the amazing part. Throughout this past year I’ve been selfish, I’ve lied, I’ve gotten angry, I’ve been jealous, and I’ve really been simply horrible at times. It is such a picture of God’s goodness that He has placed so many wonderful people in my life who, somehow, still love me. I’m so glad I also get the opportunity to give back to them. There is something completely fulfilling about this type of giving—I wish I did it more often but the honest truth is I can’t even remember the last time I gave someone a gift without some sort of obligation compelling me to do so, be it a birthday, wedding shower, ect. My goal is to get to the place where I’m simply a giving and more generous person throughout the entire year [and not just on special occasions].

There’s also just something about Christmas that brings out the best in people. It has the potential to bring out some of the worst too—I just think of people trampling others to get the one toy everybody has to have. But more importantly than that, it has the ability to bring out the absolute best. Just think of the Salvation Army volunteers, the kids that drop their extra change into the little red buckets, the shelters that give the homeless warm meals to eat, the baked cookies that find their way from your oven to your neighbor’s front door. There are no other holidays that inspire this type of behavior. It’s directly from the example Christ taught us: love the Lord with all your heart, love your neighbor as yourself, and do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And it’s wonderful to see. Christmas is the one time of the year I know I’ll be proud to show our world to the little baby girl we’ll be having. And this is what I’ll tell her: this, my dear, is what the world should be like all year around. This, my little baby, is Christmas.