Well the calendar tells me that tomorrow is December 25th. Other than that, there are very few things indicating that Christmas is here. My December in South Africa has been so vastly different from any December I have ever experienced that it just doesn’t seem possible that it is Christmas Eve.
I’m not getting papers filled with catalogues of toys and gifts that I am pressured to buy for family and friends. I don’t have a television so I’m not seeing commercials for store specials or holiday movies. A few stores in town have put up meager decorations attempting to incite festive spirit but there are even fewer decoration around my site. Oh, and it was 95 degrees two days ago.
Believe me, I’ve tried everything to make it feel like the Christmas I am used to in Nebraska. I have been listening to Christmas music since Thanksgiving, I’ve been watching Christmas movies that my parents sent me, I walked the crowded mall in Pietermaritzburg with Elise this week, and I’ve even been drinking hot chocolate on the evenings when a cold front moves through and the temperature gets below 70.
I kept thinking to myself that this isn’t really Christmas. I know that the true meaning of Christmas is so much more than the lights and wrapping paper but for over twenty years those signs have helped prepare me for this season. Like Kevin McAllister in Home Alone 2 I was thinking, “How can you have Christmas without a Christmas tree?” And at first I thought it wouldn’t be hard being away from home this holiday season because everything is so different that it doesn’t even seem like Christmas. But then I began to see and hear about people being excited to be home for Christmas and happy to be spending time with family and I felt like I was missing out on all of that. Last weekend, for example, my family was at the family Christmas on my dad’s side while I was at a Zulu wedding. And although that was a great and memorable experience it just made Christmas seem so far away this December.
Then today I came across a song, “Give This Christmas Away,” by Matthew West. You should definitely go look it up on YouTube or buy it on iTunes so that you can listen to it but here are a few of the lyrics. “Give this Christmas away if there’s love in your heart. Don’t let it stay there. Give this Christmas away and your life will be changed by the gift you receive…For God so loved the world, He gave His only son so we could be His hands, His feet, His love.”
Through this song I am, once again, reminded of the best gift that we receive at Christmas. I have been so distracted by not having the distractions that I am used to that I have been looking past the birth of our Savior. Through God’s infinite love we were given gifts of hope, joy, peace and love. And the best thing to do with these gifts is to share them and spread the good news that was first shared over 2000 years ago to a few shepherds outside of Bethlehem.
So I know that we are only a day away from Christmas and everyone already has everything planned with their families and friends but these gifts don’t have to end on the 26th. I think we should be giving Christmas away every day. It is the little day to day things that can make a difference. Volunteer, give money and time to charity, hold the door for someone, take a friend out for coffee, shovel the neighbor’s driveway, etc. We have been given so much and it would be a terrible waste to keep it to ourselves. Be the love in the world!
This Christmas and holiday season has been very different for me but it has also been a great learning opportunity and chance to grow. I definitely miss my family and spending time with them but I know that I am here for a reason and that I can share the gift of Christmas in the things that I am doing in South Africa! I pray that wherever you are in the world and whatever you are doing this weekend that you remember what this season is about and think about how you can share this great gift that we have all been given. Have a wonderful and blessed Christmas! Ukhisimusi Omuhle!
“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’”
–Luke 2: 8-14
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