Christmas – A Gift of Sacrifice

• An excerpt of a 2015 post (after the loss of a child) that feels even more relevant today

Christmas is really about celebrating Christ – the gift that came to conquer the grave for us. A gift of sacrifice.

We don’t often think of Christmas that way do we – as a celebration of a gift of sacrifice!

And now we are faced with a new thing. A Christmas focused on the future. My emotions tempt me to say no to Christmas because it will not be the same.  It. I pause to think of that little word, so important. But what is the “it”?  The message – the true sacrifice of Christmas has not changed. The IT that is changed is expectations based on the past.

Many of you have also lost a loved one. A child, a grandchild, a parent, a friend. And now a part of us is physically absent.  Our David’s determined faith and our Laurie’s joy and positivity will be remembered and honored. That is what they would have done for me.

The first time we chose to give sacrificially was a gift to us as well as it restored Christmas for us, and taught the children the real meaning of Christmas – a selfless gift – for others.

I encourage you all to remember the sacrificial gift of Christmas by joining me to give two sacrificial gifts – in honor of Christ and in honor of a loved one. It could be a gift of finances or a gift of time.  It could be grocery shopping for someone, rounding up all the carts in a store lot, making extra soup and sharing a bowl with someone who lives alone, or spending an hour listening to stories you’ve been told a dozen times before or a gift card.

It could be getting eye-ball to eye-ball with a toddler, and entertaining them to give their mom or dad a break, or it could be the privilege to help a single parent low on funds to find a gift for their child, or a book to help them through a lonely Christmas. It can even be anonymous.

I am sure you can think of many other ways you can honor the memory of your loved one and bless someone else’s Christmas by remembering the true meaning of Christmas – that Christ came to give us a sacrificial gift – a gift of hope and a future.