So, here comes Christmas and all the black Friday sales and Cyber shopping days and multitudes of enticing advertising everywhere we look. We find anxious, frustrated and sometimes very impatient shoppers waiting in long lines for many hours to get just the perfect gift on sale.

With all this hectic activity, we need to pause and to reflect on what the real reason for the season is… Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. It is His birthday and the true reason we celebrate. It’s not about the gifts, it’s about His gift to us and that most precious gift should always be our focus.

Of course it is okay to shop and get into the Yuletide spirit; it does temporarily relieve our minds from all of the atrocities happening in the world, but as we proceed with the hustle and bustle and the frenzy of everything we need to get done before the “big day”, let us fervently remember what we really need to be focusing on; the true spirit of Christmas, which is joy, peace and kindness and most importantly the birth of our Savior, the Redeemer of the world.

Make it a little less about the shopping frenzies, party chaos and over-indulgence and more about the Nativity. Let’s put Christ back into Christmas and see the blessings that will unfold and abound for all of us.

May the guidance of the Christ child be with us during this beautiful season of love, light and spiritual awakening.

Merry Christmas to all!

~Connie Pickles