Getting Ready for the Party

With less than 7 days until the Big Day, our Christmas lights are still looking good--except for the one white light bulb that burned out a week ago on the right side of our roof.  Our tree is miraculously still standing, considering that our full grown cats have this daily ritual where they climb inside and shake the entire tree. Ughhh.  And all of the presents have been purchased, thanks to the fact that online shopping is still a viable option with deliveries scheduled to arrive by Christmas Eve.  It's almost weird to be 7 days out from my favorite holiday feeling like I'm prepared.

Oh sure, this Christmas won't be exactly as planned.  My new nephew is scheduled for delivery (via birth) tomorrow morning in Houston, so he and his excited parents won't be making the trip home to join us on Christmas Day.  And we won't be going to the Christmas Eve service with our friends this year, because we've found ourselves in a situation we're were currently homeless church goers (meaning that we're currently looking for a new church home.)  But despite all of these new happenings this year, I'm really excited about celebrating Christmas as a family.

Instead of putting out cookies and milk for Santa, we've decided that our family is going to make Jesus a birthday cake this year.  After all, isn't Christmas supposed to be a birthday party for our King?  Isn't that why we decorate a month early and hang all the fancy items around our homes?  I like to think that we make such a big effort so that we can throw Jesus the best birthday party ever, right? 

Ok, I don't think any party I throw will be quite as great as the party God threw Him the night of His actual birth--I mean, I doubt I'll be able to book a choir of angels by next Sunday.  But even still, I'm trying to approach Christmas a little differently this year.  Our family is having a real party for our king.  And when I think of the holiday from that perspective (instead of superficially as I'm apt to do), I realize that I can't be wholly prepared for such an occasion.  But my heart can.  I can take the next 7 days to get on my knees and thank God for the gift of Emmanuel.  And I can focus on getting  ready to through Him the best party of my life.