Best Christmas Ever?

I wouldn’t trade my Christmas memories as a child for anything! For 14 years I was an only child and every Christmas morning the attention of my parents and grandparents were totally focused on ME!

As a parent, I tried to recreate that experience for our children as well as blend in Kim’s traditions too. Your children are small for a very short period of time, then they’re gone, and then those precious memories are forever sealed in the vault of time.

As a grandparent you mature and slow down but these days are different. Grandchildren are precious and bring back the joy of days gone by, but they aren’t “yours” and their families need the freedom to create their own traditions.  Meaning that they may or may not be there for Christmas.

Have you noticed that the problems created by evaluating the quality of YOUR Christmas by the presence, decisions, or actions of other people?

At the start of our Christmas series I suggested that we ask, “How do I have a GREAT Christmas that doesn’t depend on the presence or decisions of other people?”

The key to Your Best Christmas Ever, is how you choose to define a “great Christmas.”

I have found that if I want to have my “best Christmas ever” then I need a great awareness that “God is with us” and prioritizing time to abide in Jesus.

Not everyone is able to come for our Christmas this year but this year’s Christmas is already GREAT and yours can be too!

Every morning, I prioritize fellowship with God through my “Time and Place” and I’ve been doing what we taught in our PRAY series and practicing what I shared with you that I learned from my message on Mary’s song

Mary showed that Christmas is a time to . . .
Magnify the Lord (put the spotlight on Jesus)
Rejoice in God (put Him at the center of your celebration)
Tell His story

I am already having a GREAT Christmas and I look forward to sharing it with whomever can be present on that glorious day!

Merry Christmas!

P.S.  In my fellowship with God, I enjoy listening to music through my earbuds and PRAY is Praise (recognize who you’re talking to) Repent (remember who you are) Ask (for what you think you need) and Yield (receive with gratitude what God has provided.

P.P.S. I have experienced a series of recent health challenges.
1.) In September I had chest pains that resulted in my cardiologist order a heart cath that revealed NO blockage.

2.) In October I had two hernias repaired. I have no idea of the cause but it was an annoying 6 week recovery period where I couldn’t lift more than 15 pounds.

3.) When I was able to start doing some light cardio in the gym, I noticed a strange pain in my left calf. There was no good reason for it so I got a massage and kept working out (carefully). Last week, the pain and swelling increased to the point where I had to go to the ER. The results of the tests were Deep Vein Thrombosis and Pulmonary Embolism (blood clots in my leg and lungs). The good news is that the location of the clots made the “worst case scenario” unlikely but the bad news has been the pain and that I have been unable to stay on my feet for very long.

4.)This probably explains the chest pains in September the cardiologist said, “definitely weren’t caused by your heart.”

5.) I am on blood thinning meds and will make an appointment with a doctor who may remove the clot from my leg (one vein is completely blocked from the low calf to the mid-thigh).

6.) I am fine except that I can’t seem to be on my feet for very long.