The Essence of Christmas

A very Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!!

I had it all planned out in my mind a few weeks back. We would invite a family from our church and celebrate Christmas lunch with them. It would be a feast with several Asian main courses, some appetizers and for dessert – authentic Christmas Pudding imported from England which we brought back home from our last trip! I was really excited with preparing the menu and activities and was looking forward to having an enjoyable dinner and a great time of fellowship.

But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Instead of having a lovely Christmas dinner with family and friends, above was my Christmas lunch – gluten-free english muffin with fried egg sandwich and 3 arancini balls. Quite a departure from the Asian feast I imagined! LOL. Don’t get me wrong, that is one of my favorite breakfast food and hubby lovingly prepared it for me!

Perhaps you’re wondering why it didn’t pan out as planned. Well, a few days ago I was hospitalized. My blood pressure was elevated (really high) which affected my vision and as a result I had to stay in the hospital for 3 days. By God’s grace, I am now at home and taking some medication to control it. I had been under a lot of stress this year with the big move we had, figuring out which school to send our kids to and, recently, the passing away of my father-in-law which necessitated an emergency trip to England for a month and yeah — all the while — blogging, too. There was just too much going on that I guessed my body just sort of gave up.

Days after I left the hospital and even now, I don’t feel fully recovered yet in the sense that I still feel quite weak, tired and sometimes light-headed. I think it has to do with the side effects of the medicines too or perhaps I am just getting really old!! LOL. Anyway, sadly we had to cancel our Christmas lunch and make do with Plan B – which was no plan really!  🙂 I can’t stay on my feet for a long time yet (I accompanied hubby for a quick Christmas shopping the other day and that totally wiped me out) so I can hardly cook but, thankfully, hubby makes the best sandwiches so we are good and won’t get hungry!!! 🙂

So being house-bound for now…it made me think and ponder…what kind of Christmas did I have? I did cry a little and felt a little sorry for myself to be honest. I didn’t even make it to church as I still felt exhausted, having been awakened at 4 am and not getting a good night’s rest which didn’t help my already not very good state.

However, as I sat on the couch in the afternoon I grabbed my favorite devotional book and turned to Christmas Day. Oh, did the Lord have a great message for me. He reminded me of his immense love for us.

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be[i] against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.[j] 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:31-39


It brought home what I took for granted – the essence of Christmas. I had to be reminded that while, it may not have been the best Christmas ever for me – it wasn’t about me at all. It was about Christ who took on the likeness of man and voluntarily endured humiliation, lots of rejection and total sacrifice on the cross so I can fully experience the unshakeable and immense love of the Father even while here on earth and especially in heaven. 


I hope you all had a lovely Christmas day with your family!

Last updated on September 30th, 2019 at 04:07 pm