This is my favorite time of year. I absolutely love the holiday season. For me, this season really starts on November 1. I don’t like Halloween (not for any moral reasons, I’ve just never liked it), but I love Thanksgiving and Christmas, so now is when the season really begins. I feel like I wait all year long for this season, and then I blinked, and it was suddenly here.
My birthday is also in December, so growing up, these next two months symbolized two things to me: great food and getting the gifts I had wanted all year long. The downside of a December birthday for a kid is that you only get gifts at one time of the year, so I had to hold onto ideas all year long. I still love this time of year, but as I’ve gotten older, my reasons have certainly changed.
Let’s be honest…I still love the food. I could eat turkey and cranberry sauce all year long. And pumpkin…yes, please! Food was a vital part of my family’s traditions. We had a big Thanksgiving every year at my grandmother’s house. Following Thanksgiving, my mom and I would bake endlessly for Christmas. My mom always served a special breakfast on Christmas Day (including this quiche) and later we would go to my aunt’s for a grazing meal of various appetizers and finger foods. All culminating with New Year’s Eve, when we would usually polish off the remaining holiday treats while playing some game (often Phase 10) and toast the New Year with sparkling grape juice.
While food still plays an important part in my love of this season, the gifts…not so much. During this season, I love spending time with family. I love the festive atmosphere, the music, the laughter. I love the excitement of kids and witnessing their anticipation.
Most of all, I love the mindfulness. I am more reflective as I’ve gotten older. This holiday season kicks off with Thanksgiving, and I feel the need to identify all the things I am grateful for. As a child, my gratitude list would have been superficial, as many children’s lists would be, because my world was small. My world consisted of what was right in front of me in my everyday life. My small world in a small town in East Tennessee was safe and comforting.
Part of becoming an adult is recognizing there is more to this world than what I see everyday. I rarely watch the news because it is so depressing, but I do get a daily email blast (theSkimm) of news, and though it tries to put a comical or snarky twist on the stories, there is always some tragedy to be told. I have friends serving in Africa and Asia in dark and dangerous places. Mass shootings have become all too common. And I am reminded of how the Israelites must have felt while they were in the wilderness.
The Israelites’ world had been small, limited only to Egypt. While life wasn’t great, they knew what to expect. And then the unexpected happened again and again. Plagues came down on the Egyptians, and then the Israelites were free to escape. Pharaoh changes his mind and chases them. They walk through the sea to escape, and they are finally free. Now they are in the desert, but they are not alone. God meets them there and gives them all kinds of instructions. Their small world has gotten so much bigger. It seems almost overwhelming, and then God tells Aaron and his sons to bless the people, saying:
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26
God demonstrates that His thoughts are for His people. He has not forgotten them though their whole world is changing. He is with them, blessing them. The same is true for us. Jesus’ death allows us to become part of the people of God. Therefore, this same blessing extends to us. When the world seems dark, we can still rely on God. His goodness has not changed.
So let us enter into this season with thanksgiving. We can recognize God’s goodness in our lives and express our gratitude in it. Because we are His children, He has not forgotten us.
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