Christmas is Family Time

Maybe it’s my age. But I really enjoyed our family Christmas celebration this year!

First of all, we were all together – something of a feat in these times.

I caught snatches of conversations:

• a young lady just coming out of some personal struggles of her own, choosing to spend time talking with her Grandmother, in spite of Nana’s hearing loss.
• an uncle encouraging a niece to ‘keep fighting the good fight’, as she deals with ungodly worldviews at university.

I was grateful for a strong mature man, seeing & responding to the needs of the older & weak-er among us, with patience and grace.

• Our daughters, who each I know carry personal burdens, yet regularly bless others.
• Our youngest granddaughter lovingly made home-made treats for her Grandpa.
• A couple of my issues were solved: an overworking furnace / an uncooperative iPad.

These were some snatches from our family-time this year. I woke up the next morning with a heart full of gratefulness!

FAMILY – one of the major themes at Christmastime.

Then, this morning, this verse jumped out at me:

“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family, by bringing us to himself through Je-sus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” (Ephesians 1:5 NLT)

I’m thankful that I learned about God’s love and desire to adopt me! God’s family includes some from every corner of the world. We’re a family of stronger ones who carry responsibility to help some weaker ones, of younger ones who bring joy to the hearts of the aged ones among us… – we’re a family!

Many times I wonder in amazement about us giving our Father ‘great pleasure’, as this verse says. Really? Surely He sees the stupid, even hurtful things we do at times. But just as a parent’s heart is full of joy watching their little one grow, and just as a parent doesn’t save their child from every difficulty knowing they need to develop strength of character, so our Fa-ther brought us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and continues to cherish his children!

Here’s a verse to snuggle in with:
“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family …
this is what he wanted to do.”

Amazing! But so Wonderful!