DIFFERENT CHRISTMAS?
Our first Christmas in Florida...well it certainly was different. I really had a hard time getting into the 'spirit' of the season.
Perhaps it was just the new environment. Sitting on the balcony next to our Christmas tree in sandals and shorts, overlooking the lake and palm trees was well...just odd. Just how important to getting "in the mood" is seeing snow, feeling frigid air and layering ones self in winter clothes?
Normally, I would have been involved in all of the charitable activities at Traders Point Christian Church. Collecting and distributing gifts from the Giving Tree where we would've collected hundreds of gifts for those less fortunate than ourselves, certainly helped get me in the Christmas spirit! Was my attendance at Christmas Eve Services and December Sunday services crucial to the awakening of the Christmas spirit in me? Without a doubt, the hearing and telling of the Christmas story and the fitting in of all the parties and dinners with friends and family plus gift giving, while hectic, certainly helped put me in the mood!
Since Pursuit Christian Church hasn't opened its doors yet, Linda and I really didn't have all that much church activity. I caught a cold followed by a fever the Sunday before Christmas - so I stayed home and even slept through most of the TV specials and sermons. I finally rallied on Christmas Eve to drive five hours north to spend Christmas day with my mother, sister, brother-in-law, aunt and uncles. They are the "Florida" branch of my family, the ones we rarely see at Christmas and that was wonderful.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that expecting my environment to get me into the Christmas spirit is an exercise in futility. It is up to me and me alone to remember and celebrate that Christ is the "Reason for the Season."
As I have been thinking about this, Christ is the real reason that Linda and I are in Florida. The unfamiliar warmer climate, the out of the norm cultural traditions we've experienced and the separation we felt from dear friends and family up north must never interfere with our celebrating the real reason for the season. God loves all sinful people, past, present and future, so much that He gave His only Son to live, die and live again so that whoever believes in Him would not perish. The Christmas story and the Good News of the gospel need to be told everywhere including here in sunny Florida and that's why we're here.
To our friends and family up north, know that we thought about you with great affection, prayed for you frequently and talked about you often. We missed you! Love, Bob and Linda
