A Lesson Learned

Christmas 2017 is now over, and a New Year has come. All that remain are the leftovers of our sumptuous indulgences, the added inches around our middle, and the memories. For some, the memories are great, for others, not so good. But as I wrote on my other blog, Christmas is, and always has been, the best time of the year for me.

However, this Christmas was a little bit different, as circumstances conspired to keep me from doing some of the things I usually do. I'd made up my mind that I would not enter a store during the busy shopping season. I would simply give everyone a gift card. Not a bad idea, right? But at the last minute, on the day before Christmas Eve, I decided to go and pick up a few things to put under the tree. After all, gift cards don't look as nice as beautifully-wrapped boxes, do they?

So off I went, into an insanely-crowded store, grabbed a few items and waited in line for more than an hour before getting to a counter. And that's when things got really interesting. I should have paid for my stuff and walked out, but instead a men's watch in a locked cabinet had caught my eye. I told the cashier I wanted to get it. I left my stuff on the counter and followed the man to the cabinet where I showed him the watch I wanted for my husband. When we got back to the counter, all my stuff was gone! Vanished! I left with two items, a bad case of frustration, and a back screaming for mercy.

On my way home, I berated myself for getting caught up in something I had no business being in. I'm not saying I shouldn't have bought presents for my loved ones, but would they have loved me less if I hadn't? I don't think so. They are used to me giving them stuff, not only at Christmas but all through the year.

Love cannot be bought with things. God's gift to us was not things, but a Person in the form of His Son Jesus Christ.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that all who believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. John 3: 16

Spending time with my loved ones and sharing the love of Jesus with them is far more important than any amount of toys or baubles I could have bought.

And so, my friends, maybe that’s the reason I got sick on Christmas Day. I came down with a nasty case of the flu – runny nose, sneezing and headache. Was God trying to teach me a lesson? I don't know, but I think I learned something. At least for this year. God bless.

Happy New Year!


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