The Meaning of Christmas

Disclaimer: This will not be your normal Christmas message.  I started this blog before I heard my husband's sermon this morning.  His sermon lined up with what I felt God placed on my heart to share, so here goes... My youngest son got a dreaded phone call telling him he had been exposed to a person who had tested positive for COVID.  Of course, he was crushed because we couldn't get him tested for 6 days- the day after Christmas!  I could tell he was upset, so I asked him why he was so sad.  He stated, "I'm going to miss Christmas!"  We reassured him that he would not and got creative.  He sat in a far corner of the room opening gifts and had a special seating on the far side of our kitchen at my new kitchen island during the meal.  We even lit candles to give the "Be Our Guest" Beauty and the Beast moment.  After Christmas, we appeared at the MedExpress as soon as the doors opened.  We waited in one of the patient rooms for over one and a half hours.  Keep in mind that this is where positive cases of COVID have been diagnosed, so I told him, "Don't touch anything!"  Since he's had no symptoms, there's a good chance he has not contracted it, so I didn't want him to pick it up while we were visiting.  When they finally released us, I saw that my son had picked up a used mask off of the floor.  I knew this because his mask was still on his face!  I freaked out!  "What are you doing?!!!"  His response, "The nurse practitioner picked it off of the floor and handed it to me."  My response, "What?!!!!!!!!!  She has just treated people who could have COVID!"  So as we exited into the foyer between the entrance and exit doors, I told him to lay the used mask on the ledge since there was no trash can.  He walked over to an opened new box of masks and started to lay the used mask in the box.  I yelled, "Stop!  Don't contaminate the  new masks!  Just put it on the ledge."  He declined.  We argued.  He refused to lay it on the ledge and shoved it into his hoodie pocket.  Being the good mom that I am, I continued to argue.  "Why won't you get rid of it?"  He replied, "Because it's littering."  Huh.  Now, I recall cleaning his room only to find forty empty and half-used water bottles under his bed.  I recall finding candy wrappers squished between the couch cushions.  Was the answer that simple?  Did I only need to write a NO LITTERING sign and hang it in my house?  To wrap the story up, as I sighed in resignation because how can I say that littering is okay, I looked down at my center console, and I realized something.  My spare mask was gone.  He had picked it up and shoved it into his hoodie pocket, so when he took out his phone, it fell on the ground.  All my panic was for nothing because it was his mask all along!  Here's the point...If we do not keep our eyes on the purpose of Christmas, we can become overwhelmed by panic and fear.  Yes, Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Christ, but it doesn't end there.  It is a stepping stone to the greater purpose.  As we look at our current world, fear, hatred, and violence are running rampant.  Jesus came to this world to save it from this through His death and resurrection.  He has promised to return for those focused on Him.  His is no longer a baby, but a soon coming King!  Don't allow panic, fear, and bitterness to cause you to take your eyes off of Jesus.  Whether I am around to see His return or have already gone on, He will return again, so let us all be ready because that is the true meaning of Christmas!