Christmas....Lilies of the field?

WOW it has been a really long time since I have written anything on this blog. Time has passed and things have changed. I don't even know where to start,

How about this. Why do we celebrate Christmas? I understand Christmas is a celebration of Christ and his birth, even though "technically" we don't know that he was born on this day. Lately I have been having a really hard time with Christmas. Which is weird...because clearly Christmas is a very long way away. But It just seems so meaningless and ridiculous that we have to spend so much on ourselves, on our families, when there are people in this world that don't have anything.

Christmas is usually something I look forward to...it is a fun time, but I have been convicted of the fact that most of the excitement that I feel is "What will I get?" I I I...I become so consumed with what things I will be receiving, how many gifts I will have, and once it's all over, money is spent, time is passed....I forget about half of these things.

Lately, the idea of a simple life has just been drawing my heart. The idea that one could live so simply and beautifully without want, but not consumed with materials, not laden with stuff...no 60 hour crazy run run work weeks, or a husband who is so busy that he has to rush out the door without giving you a warm kiss goodbye...just a life full of light and peace, joy and sunshine...having time to lay in the grass and soak up the sun, feeling the light breeze on your face listening to your children playing around you. Your family of Christians right beside you every step of the way...through good times, through the tragic life shadering moments...or even the gloomy days in between.

I know that Christmas...isn't the problem...it's not the soul issue in materialism. I know that most of our lives are so consumerized that even our 4 dollar cups of coffee can't seem too bad. And believe me, I love my coffee and this is going to be terribly hard to break....but I just thought I would share this. Please comment if you have any thoughts. :)