A Perfect Christmas

My sweet Julsie invited me last night to Bellevue's Women's Ministry event: How to Have a Perfect Christmas. It was such a great night. It was the perfect way to jump start this Christmas season.

We sang Christmas carols, got cute decorating ideas and also saw food demonstrations. One of my favorite food demos was the apple french toast! I'm helping throw a baby shower brunch in a couple of weeks and one of the ladies that is also helping came up to me after the demonstration and said, We want you to make that! Perfect. D is lucky because I of course have to try it out on him first.

Diane Dougharty made some delicious cakes for all 800 women present. Too bad Jules stole my icing. She took our slices of cake back to our seats while I got coffee. I came back to my seat and somehow my icing is all over her sleeve. Thanks Jules.

The best part of the night was when Rene Smith challenged us. She told her own Christmas story. When her kids were little she did all she could to make each Christmas bigger and better. One Christmas her house was perfectly decorated, she had baked wonderful things for many, gotten presents for all. Christmas day came and went. She laid in bed that Christmas night and just cried. She had missed it. She had great intentions and did wonderful things, yet she still missed it. All of those things do make Christmas more fun, but without the focus and celebration on Jesus... its all pointless.

I love to decorate, bake, and buy gifts. I love to make my home warm and inviting especially during Christmas time, but if I do all it for the wrong reasons then I too will have missed it. There is nothing wrong with of any of these things. In fact, they should be encouraged. They are great ways to show our love for others, but we should do it with the mind set of "all for Jesus and His glory."

I've heard all my life: Jesus Is the Reason for the Season. I'm sure its even been on a few church signs. :) As simple and cliche as it is it is true. We are selling our families short if we make bigger deals out of anything or anyone other than Jesus not only this time of year but year round.

This was a great reminder right before everything begins to get crazy. So go decorate and make your homes beautiful, bake lots of goodies, and buy gifts, but do it all for the name above all names, Jesus!