Counting on Christmas

The day draws closer. The countdown has begun. Whether you’re counting 25 days of Christmas movies on ABC Family, 12 Days of Christmas, or Sundays in Advent, Christmas is a season of counting. 

We count sleeps in my house. And I might get a *little* excited when I find out that someone else counts down in sleeps. It’s fun, you should try it {grin}.

There is something about this season, with the intentional counting of days, numbering them and celebrating them as they go by that makes time go just a little slower. The expectation of celebration at the end of the countdown makes the days between a little sweeter, a little longer. The chill in the air, hope for snow (but no ice, I hate ice), dreams of snuggling in comfortable clothes with sleepy little ones on brisk winter mornings while coffee brews energy in the kitchen. 

The counting helps me slow down and realize that it’s not about the craziness. Christmas isn’t about who gets which “it” gift, who spent more money, who has the cuter wrapping paper, who used post it notes instead of gift tags. 

Christmas is about Christ. It’s about the counting. Counting on Him to fulfill the prophecy set forth generations before His feet touched the earth. Counting down to the day Word became Flesh and the clock started. The counting down, not toward Christmas carols and decorations but toward eternity. Jesus came to earth. God became man. Lived among us, died for us, to give us a gift we could never earn – eternal life. 

This Christmas season, I hope you know that He did that for you? Came here, for you? You are loved by the same God who has created and counted the grains of sand in the ocean and has counted every hair on your head. Jesus counts you as His beloved. 

And because He counts us, we count down, toward the beginning of it all. 

Merry Christmas, from my family to each of yours. 

 

Crystal Stine