A very special Christmas

This Christmas was very exciting for me.  I looked forward to it for months, actually.  I was so excited to share the wonder and excitement with Garrett, my son.  I know he is too young to really get what all the excitement is all about, and I know he won't remember the special gifts his mother and I gave him, still, as his father I took great joy in thinking about the special time with him and with our families. 

But beyond the wrapping, and egg nog, and decorated trees, I rediscovered the meaning of Christmas.  How cliche is that?  I grew up in church where I was annually reminded of the "true meaning of Christmas".  I went to a bible college where a minor in bible was required.  I know a whole lot about what the "true meaning of Christmas" is truly about.  So how is it that at this point in my life I am discovering this once again?  Read this:

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?

I get tired, cranky, frustrated and then mean towards my son at times.  I lose my patience and act unloving toward those I love most.  My natural tendencies are towards evil.  Yet, I was so excited about choosing a wonderful gift for my son.  I was so happy to sit down Christmas Eve and put together his gift.  And I was thrilled to help him play with it Christmas morning.  I might be evil, but I know how to give good gifts, because I do know how to love my son deeply. 

The second part of Luke 11: 13 talks about how our Father gives even more,  how he gives better.  And as I reflected on this I imagined God giving up His son.  I imagined Him as a Father sending His son away.  I considered the terms we ascribe: God the Father, Jesus the Son of God.  This shed new light on my understanding of their relationship simply because I now understand the father-son relationship in a whole new way.  They are father and son (and though the trinity is far more complex than that, they are described as father and son) and God sent his only son to a broken and twisted place.  Then years later, God had to watch as his son was beaten, then killed. 

He knowingly sent his son away to be sacrificed.  With this in mind I repeatedly looked at my son and asked myself if I could sacrifice in that way?  Probably not.  Then I asked myself if I could sacrifice as Abraham did, by walking his son up the mountain to be a sacrifice.  I like to think I could, but I just don't know. 

I feel such tremendous love for Garrett.  His smile is my joy.  His open arms melt my heart.  And I cannot imagine what it would be like to send him away.  I cannot imagine what it would be like watch him suffer.

So how much greater is God's gift to us?  Infinitely greater.  The true meaning of Christmas is that a Father sent his Son to save the world.  That son was born as a baby without an advantage in the world.  That son grew up and was mercilessly killed.  That son provided the way for all of us to be reconciled to God OUR Father. 

This Christmas those words took on a depth of meaning that I had never considered before.  I hope my words can help you consider that depth as well. 

(Here's Garrett with the Red Flyer wagon Laura and I gave him.  The box is filled with books from us, too.)