Giving This Christmas Away

Luke 6:38 "Give, and will be given to you.  A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.  For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."  NIV  

I sit here, pondering Christmas Eve, the lights twinkling on our tree, the smell of hamburgers in the air (sorry, it's a house full of sons and grandsons), one son on the computer playing chess, another son with grandson playing on the game machine, sweetheart watching football, daughter napping with sweetest new grandbaby, dogs under foot, and more kids on the way, and me wondering what on earth I will fix to feed the masses their next meal.  I do love this time of year. The family is home.  Love fills every inch of our home.  We laugh too much, eat too much, sleep too much, talk way too much.  It's just perfect.

We went to Christmas Eve service two nights ago.  I know.  Kind of strange.  Our mega church has 22 services so they ask regular members to attend one of the earlier services and save the Christmas Eve seats for the "twice a year" crowd.  There was a time in my life when I was harsh and judgemental of people who only attended church at major holidays.  Now, however, I realize that anytime a person comes to church it is an opportunity to help them finally meet Jesus.  Perhaps for years and years they have come to the service and gone home feeling lonely and unfullfilled.  Now I know that this year might be the year that their hearts are touched, their lives turned around.  So I gladly "give up" my seat so that someone else might come to meet Christ and His Most Gracious Heavenly Father.  So in a sense, each year, I get to give Christmas away.

Tonight we will go to a candlelight service at a different church.  One that is not so well attended.    Because in the end, it doesn't matter where I go to celebrate the birth of my Savior.  Matthew 18:20 reminds us that "for where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them." NLT  There are never strangers when you meet together to show love to the Lord.  This Christmas my prayer for you, dear reader friends, is that you get to either give away or receive the gift that is Christ during this most glorious celebration of His Birth.  I pray for each of you every morning in my quiet time with Him.  Those of you I know and those of you I will never meet. I pray that through my words, I can share what I know of Him and how much He has blessed my life.  I pray that you might come to know Him better.  I hope that by giving you a little glimpse into our Christmas, I can share a smile with you, a tear with you, a hug with you.  Merry Christmas dear friends.  

Give This Christmas Away by Matthew West featuring Amy Grant
What if I told you?
You have the power
To give someone hope
Far beyond their wildest dreams
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricenter.com/e56544-maew_west~give_this_christmas_away_lyrics.html ]
What if I told you it's right there in your hands?
In your hands

It's hard to imagine
How something so small
Can make all the difference
Tear down the tallest wall

What if December looked different this year?
What if we all just

Give this Christmas away
If there's love in your heart
Don't let it stay there
Give this Christmas away
And your life will be changed
By the gift you receive
When you give this Christmas away

It's feeding the hungry
It's serving the poor
It's telling the orphan
You're not forgotten anymore

It's doing what love does
Even when no one's watching you

Give this Christmas away
If there's love in your heart
Don't let it stay there
Give this Christmas away
And your life will be changed
By the gift you receive
When you give this Christmas away

For God so loved the world, He gave His only son
So we could be His hands, His feet, His love
His love

What if I told you?
You have the power
To give someone hope
Far beyond their wildest dreams

What if December looked different this year?
What if we all just

Give this Christmas away
If there's love in your heart
Don't let it stay there
Give this Christmas away
And your life will be changed
By the gift you receive
When you give this Christmas away
Give this Christmas away
You have the power
Just give it away
Give it away, give it away
Give it away, give it away
(Give it away)
(Give Christmas away)
Give it away