For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
One of the coolest places to have a little fire is on the beach. Watching the flames dance and the waves crashing on the shore is mesmerizing. This is a favorite of ours at Christmas. We start to anticipate the time away, focusing on God and celebrating the life he gave us as a family, a couple months before the holiday approaches. We have our own traditions that we look forward too. They include a beach somewhere and quality time away from the hustle and bustle of it all.
We pack quite a bit into December because we leave before Christmas is upon us. We buy presents, send out cards, participate in raising money for those less fortunate, decorate our house, watch Christmas movies, visit family, and make cookies like everyone else.
However, we’ve also made our own traditions during the Christmas season. We travel to a special place! We spend time together reflecting and being joyful over God’s gift to us as we pull away from home. Life slows down and we breathe.
Christmas Eve always brings the Christmas story and clams and oysters. The boys love to have ice-cream on that day too. I guess we are celebrating a birthday, but hot chocolate makes more sense to me! We enjoy singing Christmas hymns (although I can’t say it would sound like God’s heavenly angels) and seeing lights sparkling on the water.
On Christmas we love to get out into the world God made and go for a walk. It’s our quiet time with Him for reflecting and talking. Then, we have a fire on the beach. We save our Christmas dinner for the evening and have Christmas lunch. The boys love to cook over the fire…hot dogs…on Christmas…go figure. But, we do it!
The boys will try to fly a kite. However, if the wind isn’t just right, they don’t have much luck, no matter how fast they run trying to get it into the air. First lesson…no matter the plans we make and how meticulously we put it all together, there isn’t going to be much flying for us if we don’t have God’s breath of approval.
As I sit around the fire, I always keep a bodyguard near me. It’s not that I’m all that important, but I am to him. He does take his job seriously. He allows others to get only so close before he’s taking a step toward them. If they don’t take the hint, he’s not afraid to tell them off. He’s bigger than the rest and will keep the perimeter clear of intruders. He never tries to make contact unless I openly invite him to share our Christmas meal. Second lesson…God is quite a bit like a bodyguard…like that seagull. He is always near, yet waits for us to invite him in.
When our fire is coming to an end, and if we happen to have our shoes off, our feet start to get pretty cold. We don’t like to waste one bit of wood so we wait until the fire has almost burned itself out. This is the time the boys like me to put the warm sand from around the fire onto their feet. I’ll scoop it up and pack it around them, making them nice and toasty again. Third lesson…when the world around us seems cold, there’s always God’s warmth to help us feel toasty.
Our traditions might not seem right to others, but that’s ok. We get away from the hustle and bustle not to escape Christmas, but to run towards God. We just don’t want to be distracted from the real reason we’re celebrating. Some feel closer to God and family staying where they are during the season, and that’s great! There isn’t only one way to worship and praise God. He doesn’t have the same plan for everyone. He made each person unique and special. What works for one family, may not be His plan for another.
I really believe that one of the main issues we face as children of God is a lack of respect for each other. We are quick to make judgements without understanding people’s hearts. We forget to see things through love. We see the outside, which looks different than ours, and stop there.
God loves us so much! He could have made each one of us with the same thoughts as the next person, but He didn’t. He made us different and just because someone isn’t exactly how we are or what we know, doesn’t mean they’re wrong.
Don’t let judgement keep you from seeing the good in people. For God so loved the world…not a particular type of person…the world. Put on God’s glasses today and learn something from someone you’re about to judge. God sees through love, and we should too!
