Christmas day has come and gone. Yet, I hope I can "live Christmas" everyday. This Christmas may help me be able to do that.
I found out Sunday night at church about a conversation Carson had with his Sunday school teacher. She was worried that she had upset him. During class, they had a birthday party for Jesus. They were talking about what gifts they could give to Jesus, and Carson couldn't think of one. Well, Rene told him that his gift was allowing his daddy to go to Afghanistan.
I never really thought about that.
We didn't allow Jeff to go. We just supported what God called him to do.
Is that really a gift? Maybe so.
Jesus came to earth for us. He was born like us. He lived like us (sort of). He died and rose from the grave for us. Jesus sacrificed so much for us.
This Christmas we sacrificed for Him. I never really thought about that.
We could have been bitter. We could have moped around and been miserable. What good would that have done?
Instead, we put first things first. We put Jesus first. We kept things low key. We enjoyed being family the best way we knew how. We stayed in pajamas and cuddled.
One thing I've learned is that my life is not about me. It is about God. He created me. He saved me. He loves me and has a plan for me. I have to live my life for Him. Part of that is being married to an Army Chaplain. That is just one of the many ways I serve Him. Whatever God calls Jeff to do, I must be supportive.
Even if that means a deployment to Afghanistan during Christmas.
It certainly wasn't in our plan, but it is comforting to know that it was in God's plan.
No, we don't earn a medal, and we certainly don't boast. Instead, we serve. We do what God has called us to do regardless if we want to or not.
I won't lie. Christmas was hard. It was hard to shop and go to Christmas services and write out Christmas cards. Alone. It was hard for Santa to come and open presents. Alone. I don't wish that on anyone. But that is what God called us to do this Christmas.
It was hard knowing as my children slept, their daddy was in harms way. While my children were dreaming of gifts and Santa, their mama was up praying for their daddy's safety. What kind of Christmas gift is it when random rockets fly overhead? That, my friend, was hard. What do you do when you realize you have no control? You pray. And pray. And pray some more. You put your faith and trust in God because He never fails.
So this was a different kind of Christmas. A Christmas where people loved us and cared for us out of the goodness of their hearts. A Christmas where Skype and texting and email were my best friends! A Christmas where we sacrificed for our Father. After all, didn't His Son sacrifice for us?
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