the most wonderful time of year..

December... my favorite time of year.  I love tradition and have built many family traditions around the month of December.  I love Advent and the counting down of days.  I love spending a whole month reading of the coming Messiah... my Savior.

We talk about the candles and we read through the scriptures.  We study the One who came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets and to offer grace for all.

We reacquaint ourselves with some of the names of Jesus found in Scripture.  He is the Lion of Judah, the Messiah, the Bright Morning Star.  The Word is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.  The Holy One of Israel came to be the Light of the World.  I need the reminder of all that is I Am.

We schedule around the 10 days that we call Toy Time.  Ten days to give of our time, our energy, our stuff to serve others.  Ten days to stop in the madness of the Christmas rush and to give rather than receive.  Ten days to hand out toys and give away Jesus.

December is a month steeped in tradition.  Traditions that get harder to keep year after year.  The kids grow up.  More and more events pull and tug at us.  We can't do it all and sometimes we don't do any of it.  Other times, we do what we can and love on each other the best we can.  This year, we are late starting our Advent tree.  We haven't gotten our Christmas tree yet and our work at Toy Time will be sporadic around school schedules.

This December I don't want to wig out on what we don't do and how we haven't fulfilled every idea and tradition that I've created.  

Instead, I want to rest in awe of my Creator, my Messiah, my Savior, my LORD.  I want this most wonderful time of year to be all about the most wonderful gift of all... HIM!