Happy Monday evening! Like you, I’m going a hundred miles an hour with all the Christmas hustle and bustle on top of work and family. For that reason I am just getting to this blog today.  

 

Honestly I had totally forgotten about it until just a few minutes ago while out shopping and this thought occurred to me….. Why do we do this? Why does the whole world spend money we don’t have, time we can’t afford, and thought after thought of what the perfect gift will be for those we love? The last phrase of that question embodied the answer. Millions of dollars are spent this time of year in an effort to give and share our love with each other. Is it materialism? Maybe…. but at the very core of it all, you will find that it is love. It is giving. It is relational. It is what we live for the other 364 days of the year.  

 

What we all yearn for is love. Connection. Belonging. Family. Friendship. The reason we go just about slap crazy this time of year is an effort to connect by gift giving, to express love to the best of our abilities so that special someone really gets just how much they are loved.  

This whole idea made me think of this verse….. “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭5:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

http://bible.com/116/rom.5.8.nlt

That’s when I pulled into this parking lot to write this blog and check it off my list…..

God gave to us His son Jesus during this time of year to show His great love for us. So as I hit send on this blog, I’m just being like my Father God to return shopping just a little bit more. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Especially when my husband gets the notification on his phone in a little while of what I have spent. 😂🎁 

 

Join me, if you will as you finish up your shopping, in connecting your gift giving to God’s gift giving to us. Also I pray that those you are giving to feel the love you so want them to.  

I pray that this Christmas our relationships are flooded with love and even love ANYWAY. As we visit with family that maybe we wish for more of a connection with, friends we haven’t seen in a while and inlaws that are just as well out laws (so I hear, assuredly not in my case– just to clarify😜) , I pray we all experience the love we are longing to share and that when all the hustle and bustle is over, we can relax with some fun laughs, hugs, and talks. I pray for time by the fire or at the beach or on the top of a loft downtown somewhere with those you love to be just what you need it to be. And also that you make it just what someone else needs it to be as well.

Happy shopping. Happy Christmas. Happy Monday!