Merry Christmas

First off I would like to wish everybody near and far a very Merry Christmas. I will make this one short as clearly everyone will be pretty busy with festivities; in fact I soon have the great opportunity to open my Christmas presents from my family.  Part of me still isn't sure that it is Christmas today mostly because almost everything that I familiarize Christmas with is not here; at least not concretely.  But what I have realized or shall I say what God is making me realize is that all these traditions and ideas that I have about what makes Christmas well Christmas are pretty much applicable where I am right now.  No I don't get to celebrate Christmas the way I'm used to but I get a glimpse of the traditions of other cultures and more than that I get a glimpse of Christ Jesus birth in a whole new light.  Stepping back from the traditions of Christmas that I usually have with my family has made me better reflect why I celebrate Christmas in the first place.  I am starting to realize I don't need my old traditions to make it feel like Christmas but instead I just need to bask in the presence of God's love that came in the form of a helpless baby boy named Jesus.  That is what I pray for you and for me; that we  not loose our focus on the true meaning of Christmas but instead we would bask in it.  Merry Christmas everyone!