Christmas Presence

The time of year is upon us once more
Filled with travel, shopping, stress
Running here, over there, buying this, giving gifts,
Ever more and ever longer Christmas lists!
Busier than bees in the summer, nuttier than squirrels in the fall
It's a wonder how we live at all!
We never bother to stop or pause or even slow down,
But what if we did? What if we dared to take a step back;
See beyond what we have to find what it is we lack.
If we go back to the beginning I think we might just find
Some Christmas presents of a slightly different kind.
A child was born a cold dark winter night,
Three rich wisemen brought expensive gifts and travelled many miles
A poor drummer boy played a song for the babe
But the greatest gift of all that day
Was the birth of baby Jesus
Sent to earth to give us great gifts:
The gifts of His mercy, forgiveness and grace,
The gifts of His love, wisdom, and compassion.
But the greatest gift of all was he gave us His LIFE! Died so we might live.
Every day He is with us, we are surrounded by His presence in our hearts and in our lives.
Each morning we wake up is a gift from God and every day and night He is with us.
We celebrate Christmas just one day a year, but Christmas is really all year!
I hope that we do not too quickly forget what is truly important and what Christmas really means.
Christmas isn't about the ribbons, the bows or tags,
It isn't about the packages, the boxes or bags!
It's together with family friends and loved ones to remember the gifts that they are;
Jesus gave us the gift of His PRESENCE, may we be PRESENT to Him and a GIFT to all both near and far!