The first Christmas...

I've been trying not to do too much "This time last year...." stuff but it's really very difficult...I naturally remember dates and events with my "Captain-Logical" brain :-(
The whole situation was accurately described to me today as feeling like you've been taken out of one life and dropped into a completely different life which you didn't ask for or want!

This year, Christmas will be different for us - we will be spending Christmas Day with very dear friends and then meeting up with family on Boxing Day - hopefully there will be lots of laughter, and not many tears. I really just want the children to have a good time really!

But as we approach our first Christmas since the great sadness, I'm reminded of the bible teaching about the first Christmas...."The Word (Jesus) became flesh and made his dwelling amongst us....". (John 1:14)
When you peel away all the hype, all the nonsense, all the fairytale, all the myth and get to the core of what really happened 2000 years ago, the simple truth is that the God of all things, for whom nothing is too hard, was humbled, he surrendered his glory and was made man, in the most outrageous move he could possibly have made....
I read yesterday...."There are lots of important truths in the gospel, but they all depend on this one. The cross made possible freedom from sin, and the resurrection secured it, but the writing was on the wall the day Mary got pregnant. It is not exaggeration to say that the incarnation - God becoming flesh - is the most scandalous teaching anyone has ever given. More scandalously, it is completely true"
That was the first Christmas....it's totally life changing... :-)

PS : Sorry if you were expecting a Christmas card from us this year - I just couldn't bring myself to write 4 names instead of 5 on card-after-card!.....but....we do wish you a very Merry Christmas , and much love to you ! x