Eternal Value

Well, it's been awhile since my last post.  I skipped right over Thanksgiving, but it was wonderful!  It was such a blessing to be able to go home for over a week.  I'm now counting down until Christmas break.  At this time, 9 days from now, I will either be getting my butt kicked in solitaire by Seth, watching Alfred Hitchcock movies with mom and dad, or making up dances with Kate. :) That's motivation enough to get me through the next week and a half of nothing but projects, tests, and finals.  With that being said, I can't believe that Christmas is less than a month away!  The holidays are such an exciting, fun time.  While I wish that I was getting in the Christmas spirit with the rest of my family back home, I do have to say that Samford is quite festive around Christmas time.  One of the perks of going to a Christian university is getting to decorate campus for Christmas.  Here's a little preview. :)

Right outside of the library

I think it's pretty obvious that the holidays spark one of two responses in people.  It either adds joy or causes deep sadness.  I don't know why, but for whatever reason, I've been extra aware of this, this Christmas season.  It's heart-wrenching to think about the reasons people may have for sadness over the holidays.  Whether it's loss of a loved one, family division, sickness, financial burdens, etc., a deep sadness is hard to disguise.  It's obvious in people on my campus, it's obvious in Birmingham, and I'm sure it's obvious wherever you live too.  I can't think about these people for too long, because I really will start crying (don't ask me why, but I seem to cry over the littlest things these days).  It makes me sad because the root of all this sadness, in my opinion, is a feeling of hopelessness.  I mean really, is there anything worse than feeling hopeless?  I doubt there is.  I thought about these things for a long while earlier today.  I began to think of times in my life that I've felt hopeless, the most recent being that I have too many tests to study for, in too little time.  I was then reminded of something that David Platt said in his message this past Sunday, which was, "our circumstances should never determine our ability to be joyful."  Well duh, right?  This is something that I think as Christians we know in our heads, but do we really know this in our hearts? This sermon was awesome, by the way.  If you're bored and would like some encouragement, go listen to it on the Brook Hills website.  I promise, you won't regret it!  It's called "The Cross-Centered Life."  It's all about how the ONLY hope and peace we have in this world is in Jesus, and isn't that true?  Honestly, I can think of many times in my short lived life that I would've probably just given up, had it not been for the hope I have in Jesus.  

I'm going to quit rambling now, but all of that to say that I've come to a conclusion.  I think as Christians, we have no choice but to choose joy this Christmas season, no matter what our circumstances may be.  People aren't looking for us to have our lives totally figured, they are wanting to know how we'll react when our circumstances are anything but glamorous.  There's no better time for Christ to magnify his strength and power in our lives, than when we let HIM determine our attitude and actions, rather than our circumstances.  Let's rejoice in the love of Christ this Christmas and show those who really do have no hope that there IS hope, all they have to do is ask and receive it.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!