Merry Christmas!

I am a Christian so my greeting is Merry Christmas!

We gathered with our sons, their girlfriends and my wife's parents this past Saturday to celebrate Christmas. We have recently experienced a loss of income and so this Christmas both the number of gifts and the amount spent on gifts were not as lavish as past years. That is not to say our gifts to one another were ever exorbitant in the first place but the presents under our tree have always been plentiful.

I cannot say I was stressed or worried about the cutting back on presents this year. Our sons are all young men making their own way in life at this time. So, very proud of the young men they are becoming. Each has found a lovely young lady to share time with and who seem to fit right in with our family. They are such a Blessing to us all. Anyway, Christi and I set an amount to spend and while we did adjust it upward slightly as we purchased gifts we pretty much adhered to our budget.

It was around Thanksgiving I had began contemplating this Christmas season with our sons. We anticipated the boys would spend either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day with the families of the  aforementioned girls. It can be very difficult to coordinated time together and I believe attempting to do so can be a source of much stress. There was an added complication with Maryssa, Lance's girlfriend, being a college basketball athlete this year. She has a very limited Christmas break.  After some discussion, we settled on Saturday December 19th as the day we would celebrate together.  It was to be the best Christmas I can remember.

As mentioned, the presents were not as plentiful as past Christmas', but the presence was greater than ever. This, of course, is what made for my best Christmas ever. I have thought a lot about my faith in recent months. I cannot say I have doubted or questioned my belief's. It has been more a journey of understanding how experiences, bad and good, in life fit my faith.

I do not attend church services as regularly as perhaps I should. I justify this through my belief the church is not a building but people.  Therefore gathering with the church takes place anywhere two or more of us are together in His name. In short, we will not change this world by attending church. No, we will change this world by BEING the church.

The steadily growing realization of this TRUTH is what has made this Christmas the best in memory. It was the PRESENCE of our loved ones that made this Christmas special and this hit home especially as we gathered at a local steakhouse for our meal on Saturday.  I had decided around Thanksgiving time I did not want to cook and clean up after a meal as we had always done in the past. My solution was to take everyone out to dinner at a very nice restaurant.  Best decision I have made in some time.

As I sat across from my wife and we were flanked on either side by our sons, the girls and my in-laws I found myself constantly smiling. I was so content listening to the discussions and lively banter. This is when it really occurred to me the PRESENCE was stronger than ever. The presents given in acknowledgement of God's gift of his Son to us were of secondary, even minimal importance. It is His presence in our lives as was highlighted throughout the day Saturday that is significant. Presence, not presents, is the difference maker in our lives.

Church is not a Sunday only exercise,

Christmas is not a once a year occurrence.

We do not attend church. We gather with the church. And Christmas is not a day, but a way of life. The gift is neither gold, frankincense or myrrh but the magi gathering with Jesus, the church. Their presence with, not their presents to, the new born King is what is important. And it is God's gift of His Son's presence here on earth that is His gift to us. The magi returned God's gift of Jesus' presence by being present with Jesus.

There has been a growing realization of this in my life over the years that finally came into clearer focus this past Saturday. I am not so naive to think all has been revealed to me. I know I have so much more to learn from God. This is but a milestone on my journey through this life.

Those of you who are still reading might be wondering what this has to do with soccer. Why a testimonial on a soccer blog? When we gather as a soccer team we are with the church. Here in the United States where liberal democrats are doing their best to eliminate all mention of God from public life it is more important than ever to remember WE are the CHURCH, Christmas is our life. Through us the warming brilliance of God's LOVE cannot be hidden or extinguished.  God's presence is present in our presence with Him.

Merry Christmas!