THE REAL STORY
I REALLY LOVE THE CHRISTMAS SEASON
Awe yes. While listening to beautiful Christmas music and looking at the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree,, the soft glow of the candles , the table set set with our best Christmas china ( and even a decorated Christmas cookie on each plate) , and of course the garland entwined with the white ( and dare I say very bright) Christmas lights, Christmas is now officially here at the King family. We were the first ones to have our outside Christmas lights hung up and lit on Thanksgiving Day. Yes, its a magical time in our home…NOT! Now, I debated on posting a beautiful picture I took with the hanging stockings as the sun was going down and the sunlight hit them at just the right angle. It really was an awe inspiring picture. But, my family voted on this one ( go ahead, its ok to laugh!). Why? Because it depicted what its really been like. Im soooo exhausted from my time off. I have been baking, cooking, going to work very early, decorating the house, and finally, taking our family Christmas card picture for this year. I didn’t even post a “Happy Thanksgiving” because I was just toooo tired. And its not even December 1st! And don’t get me started about Walmart! How would I have known that trying to find ornament hooks would take me to six stores to finally find them..A Walmart employee said it the best when I asked where the ornament hooks were and he said “ they were completely sold out of them”. I made the mistake of replying “ Really? “ In total disgust, he just walked away, exhausted and done with the holiday season. Am I the only one feeling just a bit frazzled this year? Maybe its because I turned 64 and just don’t have the same energy I did last year. Or maybe its just the final straw of this entire 2021 Can anyone relate? We were going to drive to the mountains again and hopefully get a spectacular picture but…it seems that ALL of us were just too tired this time. Which led to this picture…we were trying to get the “right” picture but it was evading us numerous times. At some point we just started laughing, and laughing. The final picture was taken and we were back in our PJs watching one of our favorite Christmas movies. As this year is coming to a close this picture said it best…that the real story isn’t so “perfect”. There has, and continues to be, a lot of chaos, fear, and uncertainty. People have lost loved ones, their jobs, their purpose, their hope. But God reminded me this past week that its not about finding ornament hooks or even the Christmas lights. It’s about Him…Jesus. He has, and will always be, our only HOPE.. As you start this holiday season I pray you too will be encouraged that Jesus is the REAL story behind it all.