What is christmas?

What is Christmas? What does it mean to me? As a boy my answer would have included, of course, Jesus’ birth, but more excitingly I would have gone on and on about what it “really meant”. Toys! No school! Mario Brothers, new gadgets, fun nights, and more presents. It would have been about the events, the lights, the spectacles, and the excitement surrounding the most anticipated day of the year My childhood Christmases were still centered around Christ, just for my little heart, the excitement of Christmas was mostly centered around what I would be getting more than anything else.

As a 37-year-old husband and father to 11-year-old twins, my answer is quite a bit different from that of the early 1990’s.Christmas, now, has almost zero to do with what I “want” and everything to do with the beauty and joy of the spirit of this great day Christmas is about hope, joy, and peace It’s about family, new beginnings, and the reminder of the values that are so foundational to our existence. Christmas is about resetting our gaze away from the challenges, business, and stress of our modern days and realigning them with a slower pace that chooses to celebrate what matters most in this life

For so many years this season was marked with pressure Pressure to “do”, pressure to “buy”, pressure to “one up” last year’s gifts…just pressure. Pressure to be everywhere all at once, to not let anyone down, to overdo it and never stop running. We had to “be here”, “be there”, “get this gift”, “get that gift or they’re going to get their feelings hurt”; and so on and so on. What was intended to be a season of lifegiving joy inevitably, year in and year out, turned into one of weariness and being over-extended. Thank you, Jesus, this is not the narrative any longer.

Now, Christmas in our home is about Jesus, family traditions, rest, and peace.Christmas is about the simple gospel of God with us, Emmanuel. It’s about being recentered in the beauty of His life, His love, and His willingness to come to us and reconcile the world back to The Father. It’s about the joy and hope that is, and can only be, found in His presence and love

Now, do we give gifts? Absolutely we do, and we love doing it. Are we still quite busy this time of year? Yes, we are. However, what is different is the internal cadence and pace by which we enter this time of year. We are committed, as a family, to enjoy every moment. To set a budget and stick to it. A budget not only of finances, but also a budget of our available time, commitments, and capacity for “doing”. This budget has a strong emphasis on being home, snuggling on the couch with movies, baking cookies, looking at lights, setting goals for the next year, and soaking in the healing that rest intends to bring our hearts.

Christmas is about seeing what, and who, matters most in life, evaluating how well we remained focused on those things throughout the year, and breathing in a fresh refocus and realignment for the days to come.

This time of year often carries for many a lot of pain, reminders of loss or heartache, or simply the feelings of loneliness. To anyone who may come across this article, I pray that the love of Jesus would touch your heart and you would know that you are so deeply loved by The Father. I pray that Emmanuel, God with YOU, would be known and that this Christmas, His hope would be so present in your home that you cannot avoid it.

Christmas is about His love, His heart for us all, and the gift of union with God that was lavished upon us all.

Matt and His wife, Jamie, pastor The Homestead Church in Aubrey, TX where they live with their daughters Emery and Finleigh (11 years old)

Matt is an avid golfer and hunter, but his life’s passion is teaching people of God’s loving nature and who they are in Christ

Jamie and the twins show western pleasure in the AQHA and Matt joyfully serves as both stall boy and tack fetcher for their illustrious horse show exploits (shout out to the show dads)