I am Ann Blessing, a 36-year-old mother of two girls. I was seated in my sitting room watching my children decorate the Christmas tree; it got me thinking, what is Christmas? Is it just celebrating the birth of Christ, like it is widely known, or did God intend for it to go far beyond that?
Challenged with these thoughts, I chose to ask my children, Abigail, 12 years old, and Hailey, 13 years old, who were so busy with the Christmas tree.
“Girls, what is Christmas ? What do you think it is all about, in your own understanding?”
Abigail pinched her nose and looked at me with a very serious look and said, “Mum, don’t you know? Christmas is the day we celebrate the birthday of our Savior, as we are taught in church and school, but for me it is when I get to plait the hairstyle I like, get many new dresses, and give out all those that don’t fit me to my friends who don’t have any, and invite my cousins over for a meal.
Hailey, on her part, who was quietly listening to her sister, stepped in and said, “Christmas is celebrating the birth of Christ and doing a lot of shopping, food, dresses, and new things, which gives us a lot of time to get to spend with our parents and visit our relatives.”
I said to them, Thank you, girls. From their sharing, it gave me a deeper understanding of Christmas and what it should be about; it is definitely not just about celebrating the birth of Christ. Even in their tender age, they understood that it goes beyond that.
Christmas is therefore God’s way of saying, ‘My children, I got you through the year during your busy schedule; now it is time to slow down and celebrate life with your loved ones through thanksgiving, sharing, and lots of love and affection.”
It is a time God allows us to reflect on a lot of things that have transpired through our lives the whole year and look at how God has carried us through it, blessed us to make it to the end of the year, whether with challenges or not, but we made it, so it is important that we celebrate his love and mercy upon our lives and our loved ones.
Therefore Christmas should be a time to be thankful for the gift of life, share with the less privileged, make merry, spend time with family catching up on a lot of stuff that transpired through the year, and pray for those that didn’t make it to rest in peace.
