This time of the year is marked with certain time-honored traditions.

• Purchasing of gifts for those near and far. Attending holiday parties with friends and family members. Packing up the car to make extended trips. Baking cookies, making pies, and taking out Grandma’s recipe of sweet potato casserole – the one with mini-marshmallows. We purchase a new dress, coat, sweater, shoes or pants to ensure we are dressed for the season. We design Christmas cards with photos and write an “update” to accompany the card. We address and stamp each card with the hope that the card and note will bring holiday cheer and joy throughout the year.

This time of the year is marked with visiting, reflecting, and giving.

• We visit the gravesites of those long passed. We stand in front of the headstone, read the inscription and think of the life, the laughter, the moments of joy. We contribute to those in need by purchasing toys for the young, feeding the hungry, and visiting the lonely and disenfranchised. We wonder if the boy will like the truck. If the girl will like her new dress. And, if the single mother will appreciate the bags of groceries and the gas card. We wonder if the time we spent in silence next to the hospital bed made any difference.

This time of the year is marked by spending time with the One who made all things possible.

• We attend church services, listen to scriptures and hear the story of the first Christmas. Dressed in our best clothes, we pray, we praise, we thank. We hold hands as our hearts are touched, our spirits renewed, and the sense of peace and joy embraces our entire being. Love warms our hearts. Joy strengthens our spirits. The music and choir bring tears to our eyes. “And in that region, there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, ‘Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!’” Luke 2:8-14

This time of the year is marked with traditions, visiting, reflecting, giving, and spending time with the One who made all things possible. My hands extend, my heart rejoices, my voice cries out, my soul shines bright in His glory.

This time of the year.

Until Next Friday,

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash