What's the point? the holiday blues get busted

I came close to boycotting Christmas this year.

I'm new to YWAM Perth and I just got back from outreach and I don't know anyone and it's hot here and I'm homesick. I was "this" close to protesting, pouting, and otherwise preventing celebrating Christmas this year. "the 25th is a pagan holiday anyway..." and "it's too commercial" and every other excuse actually went through my mind this year.... as I sat arms-crossed and pouting in my spirit.

But I'm done windging and whining about this being my first Christmas away from home. Why? Because God gives perspective when we ask for it. And I've been noticing the lyrics to traditional Christmas songs lately, and they are amazing. Christmas songs are like the ultimate worship songs. They are powerful! It's been refreshing to view Christmas songs as a way to worship God. And it was that right there that brought me back to the heart of Christmas. Here, in Australia, stripped of all my familiarity, comfort, family, most of my close friends, and to boot the torture of celebrating a traditionally "cold/wintery/snowy" holiday in 90 degree heat, I was overcome with the beautiful simplicity of why we make such a fuss towards the end of December.

It's Jesus.

He was actually born. He cried and had fat baby arms. He grew up and learned how to talk and walk. He lived a beautiful and perfect life and then died a greusome death... so that we could receive the Father's love. He died for love. So that we could be loved extravagently. So that we could take all our mistakes, our "owies" and "ouches"- both those caused by others and the ones we have done- to the one who gives total healing and restoration. Jesus came so that we could have abundant life, wholeness, healing, love, and joy. Jesus is amazing!!

Now, I know that Christmas in its simplest, least commercial, form may be a little... repetitive for us Christians. We claim to celebrate and worship Jesus every day, so why such a hullabaloo on one particular day. We'd much rather focus on the decorations and gifts because it's a break from the ordinary, mundane, day to day... it's something different. Can we really worship God every day AND get ultra-exicted about the same thing on December 25th? I'm going to go on a tangent now but it will prove relevant so bear with me: I've been interacting with more married couples lately. On many, many occasions I have been SHOCKED by married couples requesting MORE time to spend with each other. For example, couples wanting to make sure their weekend work duties are the same so that they can do them together. My immediate, naive thought is "you guys live together... do you seriously want more of your working and spare time with each other? Don't you see each other enough?" I don't understand... I probably won't understand untill I am married.. but I suspect there is something truly beautiful behind that. It is a beautiful thing that two people who share every day together would still want more time together, would still get excited about the "more" or the "extra". And I guess that's kinda the way Christmas should be. That we worship Him, live with Him, love Him daily but we are SO in love with Him that we can still get excited about the special occasion, the added opportunity to make a fuss over Him and celebrate His love. And tonight, at church singing Joy to the World and O Holy Night, as the lyrics of the songs really sunk in for the first time ever, I felt that excitement rise up inside me. I felt an exuberance and bubbling joy over the opportunity to revel in His love and grace in such a beautiful and sweet and festive way- on this crazy day called Christmas.

And that, my friends and family, is why it is worth it to celebrate Christmas.. alone, in shorts, scratching my mosquito bites. It is worth celebrating, and celebrating madly!