Christmas – Tattoo It On Your Heart

Although I was heading out of the country for ten days, I determined Christmas would be stress free—not the usual last-minute mad dash. My sweet potato casserole and other side dishes lay stacked in the freezer. Likewise, the dough for honey-spice ginger snaps, rolled and ready to slide in the oven. Cheery holiday tins filled with fresh-baked anise and almond shortbread adorned the buffet, most of my shopping was complete, and the house clean when I departed.

There’d be plenty of time to complete the few tasks left on my list to prepare for Christmas on Cape Cod when I returned home on December 20th.

Everything in order, I looked forward to relaxing in Canada visiting my mom, stepdad, and my sister Monique, her husband, and their three delightful children who were flying in from New Zealand. — I should’ve known better. Life has a way of upending our great expectations with unexpected interruptions.

“Happy birthday, Jesus. But Lord, as the song says, ‘I have no gift to bring, pa-rum-pa-pum-pum.’”

There’s no greater gift to give or receive than the message of Truth wrapped in Love. The babe born in a stable, laid in a manger, who later lay down His life to save us as the perfect sacrificial Lamb of God. Jesus. King of kings, God incarnate—the most priceless gift offers Himself, new life and eternal life, free to all. He is the Prince of Peace and His peace is not contingent on circumstance. Jesus binds up the broken-hearted. He gives help to the helpless, hope to the hopeless. He is the Good Shepherd and the Way home for wayward. Come, let us adore Him.