Donna Naborsyour Spiritual jewelry box.

 

Christmas is Over – What Now?

I love placing lots of gifts under the Christmas tree. As gifts appear and begin to surround and creep out from under the limbs, the excitement mounts. And then as Christmas Eve draws to a close at our house, the wrapped gifts have disappeared and only a few stray wrappings which missed the trash bag remain.

Do you experience a bit of a let down after the anticipation and excitement of Christmas? Christmas Eve is one of my favorite nights of the year because our tradition is that the kids and grandkids all come to our home that night. I am so blessed.

Because I also enjoy preparing for the New Year, I don’t really experience a let down after Christmas. Exhaustion for a day, perhaps, but not that restless empty feeling. This year was different because the day after Christmas we said goodbye to my Munchkin cat. While she was not our only cat, she was my baby. It was an extremely hard day for me coming home to her no longer being there.

What do we do with the emptiness we may feel after the new wears off from the completion of an exciting event or accomplishment of a goal or after the loss of a pet? We look forward to the future. Maybe not just the next date or goal, but the end goal.

We look forward to a second Christmas of sorts. The day of Christ’s coming again. His appearing, our hope fulfilled.

Christ appeared in a manger in Bethlehem, but He appeared before that throughout scripture. And once the gift of His appearance in the flesh ascended to heaven, we can, fortunately, still find the wrappings of the gift He gave us. His presence everywhere and in everyone who receives Him. Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).

Praise God there is coming a day when He will appear not in a manger but in the sky with the sound of a trumpet. And we shall forever be with Him after that day.

“Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).