Long time no see
I have no idea where I intend to go with this letter. A lot has happened in the last three weeks. For those of you who actually do read this, I apologize. I had a lot going on between finals, and driving home to Minnesota, and having my roommates stay here for a few days, and getting back into the swing of things back here. It has been a crazy past couple of weeks. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to do all the things that I did and see all the people I’ve seen. I don’t know why I thought for some reason I wouldn’t enjoy coming back home. I have had such a blast getting to spend time with Kate, Claire, and my mom and dad. We are actually all about to go to dinner in a little bit. As I’ve talked with people it has been very interesting to find out that not a lot of people are fortunate enough to have families that they’re excited to go back to and excited to spend time with, which is heartbreaking for me.
I have always had a family that I love and that loves me and cares about me and I get along with. I love spending time with my family. Sure, we may not spend every waking minute together, but we are able to come together and love each other. I am learning now that that is such a blessing that not many people have and I truly pray for all of my friends who aren’t fortunate enough to have the relationships that I am able to have with my family. As humbly as I can say that, I do truly wish that everyone I knew was able to experience that. My heart breaks for people who are hurting and for people who dread going back home because they aren’t excited to spend Christmas with their families. That’s something I cannot even imagine and I know that that is something that is very difficult for a lot of people. The very people who are supposed to love you unconditionally and people who are supposed to care for you no matter what don’t seem to take joy in your presence. That hurts. Not wanting to be around them is very scary and very sad for me to hear. My prayer is that even despite all the things that are going on with their family that they will still be able to get some rest and hang out or see their friends or maybe even have some conversations with their family about what is going on. I pray that relationships would be restored this holiday season and things will be said that need to be said. I hope this time is not filled with bitterness or with resentment or any sort of hard feelings within the hearts of my friends, but that it would be a time to realize that Christmas is not about us.
It’s not about getting presents. It’s not about snow. It’s not about family. It’s about a promise that was made by our Father to send us a savior, a messiah. A promise that had been held for thousands of years. This messiah who we had longed for for so many years was brought to us as a baby in a manger. This season is about celebrating that. It has become this whole idea about “what can I get for Christmas?” “what can I do?” and this big fat guy named santa travelling the world in one night in his sleigh driven by reindeer giving us gifts. This has captivated the hearts of American society and people are putting him above the fact that our Lord and savior was brought to us on this day two thousand years ago. To miss that point of Christmas would be a catastrophe. I am guilty of this. For my entire life, I have thought that this was how Christmas was meant to be spent. This holiday is meant to being honor and to bring glory to Him. I think we have missed the point. I know I have missed the point for so many years of my life. I know that this holiday season I want to be able to glorify Him and to thank Him and to bring honor to His name forever and ever. Amen.
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