Finding Jesus at Christmas Time

I was on a mission....

I put my shoes and was getting ready to head out the door when my kids yelled out; "Mom! Where are you going?"

To which I replied "I am going to find Jesus!" Yea. That got me a few weird looks to say the least;-)


Our beloved Jesus statue( that we have had for years) had broken and I really wanted to replace it and thought for sure I could find a replacement especially this time of year. Right?

I pulled into the first store....

 

I thought for sure this store would have what I was looking for. I mean it has Christmas in the name of the store. I begin to walk through aisle after aisle. I found tons of santas, snowmen, decorations, lights and the list continues. But NO Jesus, not even a glimpse of Him.


And then went to 3 more stores only to be disappointed again. NO Jesus, NOTHING. Not even a glimpse.

My last stop was a Christian book store. SURELY Jesus will be here! An employee approached me and asked if I needed help and I told him what happened to our statue and asked if they had another one. He then looked at me as though I had two heads and said "Oh my. I don't think we have anything like that.

Sigh.

Jesus was no where to be found and it broke my heart. Christmas is all about HIM and yet it seems He has been completely pushed out and REPLACED.. How are others suppose to come to know the TRUE wonder of Christmas when there is not even a glimpse of Him anywhere to be found?


And it was in that moment that God began to breath something beautiful in my heart.

Christmas is not about STUFF. It's about PEOPLE. It's about COMMUNITY.




It's about BEING Jesus to those around us.

Because it's not about us FINDING Him.

It's about Him SEEKING us..


And He desires to do that through you and me.



And through that the

        "Smith Family 25 days of Christmas" was born.

It's not a new concept really. But rather one I think we all need to be reminded of.

Every day we will do something that is blessing to someone else. Something that  brings Jesus into someone's life.

Simple things. Random Things.

Things that will make even a small difference in the lives of those around us as so many are desperate for even just a glimpse of Him.

And to make this really come alive for my children. I decided to print out a photo of Jesus and attach His message of what He wanted us to do TOGETHER for the day.

And our prayer this Christmas season is that this will create a ripple effect in the lives around us and instead of Jesus having to be searched for or replaced.  He will instead live out His presence through us...

Through these little acts of kindness and sharing His love and as we are faithful in the little things...

His presence will begin to draw others toward Him and they too will receive the TRUE meaning of CHRISTmas....

               "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. "  Isaiah 9:6