{"id":172,"date":"2014-12-19T05:48:00","date_gmt":"2014-12-19T05:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cherylrostek.com\/index.php\/2014\/12\/19\/advent-letter-2014-a-celebration-of-gifts\/"},"modified":"2014-12-19T05:48:00","modified_gmt":"2014-12-19T05:48:00","slug":"advent-letter-2014-a-celebration-of-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cherylrostek.com\/index.php\/2014\/12\/19\/advent-letter-2014-a-celebration-of-gifts\/","title":{"rendered":"Advent Letter 2014: A Celebration of Gifts"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
Christmas is a gift-giving season.  Indeed the very first Christmas the Magi arrived bearing gifts for the newborn Messiah.  Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh were bestowed on the King of the Jews who was a gift in and of himself: \u201cfor the wages of sin is death, but the free gift<\/i> of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our LORD.\u201d (Romans 6:23)  The heavenly hosts proclaimed this wonder singing in splendor, \u201cGlory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to all whom God favors.\u201d (Luke 2:14) I envision the shepherds having just another day in their fields when the entire night\u2019s sky illuminates with radiant beauty and the voices of angelic harmony begin to surround them.  The shepherds ran to the village to \u201csee this wonderful thing that [had] happened.\u201d (vs 15) and when they returned to their fields they were \u201cglorifying and praising God for what the angels had told them, and because they had seen the child, just as the angel had said.\u201d (vs 20)  They celebrated the gift of Jesus Christ born in their very village that night!<\/o:p><\/div>\n
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This advent as I focus on Christ the gift, I\u2019m also focusing on celebrating the other gifts I\u2019ve been given this season. This is a meaningful yet, very simple idea.  However, I have found the entire Christmas story simplified this year.  We were teaching Rayna about Christmas being a celebration of Jesus\u2019 birthday.  She asked where Jesus is now and I told her that He\u2019s living in heaven with God.  <\/o:p><\/div>\n
\u201cWill he come again?\u201d She asks. <\/o:p><\/div>\n
 I reply, taken slightly off-guard, \u201cYes, yes he will.\u201d <\/o:p><\/div>\n
\u201cWhen Mom?\u201d <\/o:p><\/div>\n
\u201cNobody knows, that\u2019s why we always have to be ready.\u201d<\/o:p><\/div>\n
 \u201cHmmm.  We always have to be ready. Maybe Tuesday?\u201d   <\/o:p><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Tonight in my home Christmas songs play in the background and I have just finished wrapping Christmas presents.  I anticipate the joy on Rayna\u2019s face when she opens her gifts on Christmas morning and as she gives her gift to her father.  Truly, these moments as a family are a treasure.  Daily I am taken by my daughter\u2019s beauty and by her compassion.  Her eyes are soft with love and her smile is playful.  My husband and I are blessed to be responsible for raising this beautiful girl, for teaching her, and for equipping her to thrive in this thorn-filled world.  What a gift!  In these moments I also celebrate my beautiful marriage to a man whom I respect, cherish, and appreciate.  I have a partner in adventure and a man who keeps life light by not taking anything too seriously.  I love that each year I learn more about this man and each year as he learns more about me I feel more cherished than before.  I celebrate these gifts of husband and child which I hold in my heart this year, this advent, this day, and as long as my mind stays sound!<\/o:p><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I have placed gifts under my Christmas tree for my nephews and niece which I am able to hand deliver later this season.  On New Years we will be travelling to my parents\u2019 to celebrate Christmas together.  This is perhaps the sweetest gift I have been given this season.  Mom battled hard against cancer this year.  I have only seen her ill this year.  But, she is now in full remission.  Beautifully, she is (a new version of) well and we can celebrate together this year.  We can celebrate the birth of our Saviour.  We can celebrate the gift of time, of more precious moments with mom.  I celebrate that Mom can play with her grandchildren this Christmas.  I celebrate that I can cook turkey dinner with my Mom this year.  I celebrate that Mom sounds like herself again.  I celebrate that there is no detectable cancer in Mom\u2019s body.  I anticipate the celebration of extended family! Praise God for what he has given my family this year!    <\/o:p><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

 I don\u2019t know what kind of year you\u2019ve had.  Maybe you too have many blessing and gifts to celebrate as we enter this celebratory season.  Maybe this has been the hardest year you\u2019ve had yet and it\u2019s going to be the toughest, most emotional Christmas you\u2019ve ever experienced.  Wherever you find yourself I ask you to consider the one gift that we have all been given this season: Christ.  Christ himself came to Earth to offer redemption.  He came as a baby, he lived as a man, he died to forgive our sins and now he lives in heaven with God the Father.  And guess what? Praise God, Jesus is coming again!  He is the one gift we can count on when there\u2019s no other gifts under our tree or when our hearts feel empty instead of full.  He is the light of the world.  He is who the angels announced in marvelous splendor all those years ago.  He is who the shepherds ran to meet and the wise men journeyed to see. He is Christ our King, the gift who everyone can claim this Advent and every day of the year.  Would you celebrate with me? Because, perhaps Christ will<\/i> return on Tuesday.<\/o:p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christmas is a gift-giving season.  Indeed the very first Christmas the Magi arrived bearing gifts for the newborn Messiah.  Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh were bestowed on the King of the Jews who was a gift […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAdvent Letter 2014: A Celebration of Gifts - Cheryl Rostek<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cherylrostek.com\/index.php\/2014\/12\/19\/advent-letter-2014-a-celebration-of-gifts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Advent Letter 2014: A Celebration of Gifts - 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