All I Want For Christmas Is…….
 Ideally something: Expensive, Practical and Durable. 

​The gift must be expensive. I was 23 years old when I received my very first Christmas gift. That was partly because we never celebrated Christmas at home and mostly because my parents could not effort to buy us anything.
I got engaged that year and my then fiancee (now
my husband) gave me a significant gift.
​
I am not trying to be all materialistic here, but we are talking about the ideal gift, yes? (smile) So, anything that falls into the  bling-cha ching group  is good.  

Secondly  the gift has to be practical. How many of us have received Christmas gifts that have ended up in charity shops, attics or hidden inside boxes in the garage right after they were unpacked? Some of them are not only unpractical, but ludicrous. 
Remember that lumpy bright green jumper your auntie knitted for you every Christmas and you felt “obliged” to not only try it, but keep it on for the rest of the celebrating day? Yes, that one! None of those gifts for me please. (smile again) 

Lastly, the gift has to be durable. I love those gifts that no decay, time, weather or rust can destroy. Those gifts that spark memories, transfer us into another time and remind us of something special. I am all for those gifts. 

Well, any gift from the above categories would certainly of made me happy ten years ago - scratch that 5 years ago, but this Christmas I want and ask for just this one thing. None of my family or you can give it to me (that took away all the pressure, didn't it?) The gift I want is…….. Jesus, the very presence of God. (!surprised) 


I know I might sound super spiritual and perhaps surreal, but in Jesus I have found that all of my three  ‘must have” gift for Christmas categories to be fulfilled. 

How?

Well, He is very expensive,in fact the most expensive gift of all times. He came (His birth is the reason why we celebrate Christmas) and put His life in the line for you and me. He said ‘I love you so much that my life is in offer for your freedom’ See John 3:16  

He is the most practical gift ever. We can ‘use’ Him every day. We can take Him to work, running, sleeping, partying,eating, spa, on holidays ….. yes, absolutely everywhere.

And, lastly He is the most enduring, durable, endless gift you can have. His is eternal, everlasting, unending. No earthquakes, flooding,fire or destruction can diminish Him. He is the same, He never changes and He is with us forever. 

During the last years I have received bling gifts (expensive), I have enjoyed practical gifts (I am a sucker for stationery) and I treasure some great memorabilia , but none of them has given me the lasting joy and fulfilment that the presence of God does. Yes, I will receive gifts this Christmas and I will give many for I absolutely love the fun and  love gifts render, but my heart longs for just this one. Jesus 


What about you? What is your ideal gift to receive? 

Love to hear from you
Have a very Blessed Christmas Friend xx 


Read the Story of Christmas in Luke 2: 1-20 

We don’t like the broken. A broken car frustrates us? A broken jar angers us. The scars and pain of a broken relationship carries are so agonising that what was once love turns itself into ugly hate. The sharp edges of a broken heart pierce anyone who dares to come near. The shame of a broken mind weight heavy on the sufferer and his loved ones.  

Yes, it's not hard to understand that we are made for wholeness and not brokenness. 

Still, the fall broke so many things . It started by breaking the relationship between God and us. Then continued ruthlessly snapping away any healthy affinity between man and woman, man and himself,  man and nature, man and work etc. 

The beautiful thing is that the fall and all its effects was stopped. Thank God for that!
The cross took care of all the gaps and fractured pieces contrived by fall. The vertical and horizontal bars where the body of Christ laid made a way for all relationships once damaged to be restored, to become whole. 

So, the brokenness of the body of Christ is a daily invitation for us to become whole. Through the broken, His life and love enters in us. You see my friend, brokenness is a doorway to fellowship with Him.  Not all the brokeness comes from God, but all the brokeness is handeled by His loving heart and divine purpose- be sure of that. Those cracked dreams, the shattered hopes, the crushed plans... all are openings for his grace to flow in abundance. 

We will never become whole unless we are broken first. What we often call wholeness is a lifeless heart and an empty life. Without the breaking we are simply hollow shells. Beautiful from the outside, but empty inside. We carry within us a stoney heart so cold that can’t offer sympathy, tears, encouragement, hope, love, laughter, joy and life to no-one.
Through brokenness we invite Christ to transform us, enlarge us, to make us new... Yes, to make us whole.

The breaking of us ends up being the making of us.
I know this might be too bold to bring  into our attention now, it might even sound totally crazy, but I have a feeling we can start and thank God for breaking us. 

We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times.
Romans 8:17-18, The Message 

Can you share from your life an example that you thought you were broken, but in fact you got put together for better?