Last week we had our annual Christmas party for the ladies’ fellowship in our church. Many volunteered to be table hostesses, which meant they brought a Christmas centerpiece and table settings for a table of nine. I have no idea how many tables we jammed into the room we rented, but my guess was at least twelve or fifteen, and each one was decorated so entirely differently, reflecting the culture and joy of each hostess.
Then everyone brought an appetizer to share, so we had five or six long tables spread with all kinds of delicious and beautiful appetizers. It was fabulous! We ate, we sang Christmas carols, we visited, and we listened to three lovely speakers.
But here’s what struck me. With the room full of over one hundred women, I thought we should have all lifted up our hands to view the tremendous force for good represented in that room. These are the hands that are going to make Christmas “happen” for hundreds of people. These are the hands that will shop, cook, make lists, buy, wrap, bake, decorate, stuff, give, and stay up way too late doing it all. These are the hands that will sew and stamp and write and sweep up sprinkles and pine needles and broken ornaments, all to a background of joyous Christmas music.
What a tremendous amount of work these hands will do in these next few days to make Christmas a time of rejoicing for hundreds of people, our people. How many are you blessing this Christmas? How many will enjoy all that your hands have labored over, glorifying and beautifying things like sugar cookies and packages? Spread love all over the celebrations that will bless your families and friends as you gather around Christmas tables and Christmas trees.
I hope you see this! Look at your hands. Christmas hands! Ask God to make them fruitful. What a privilege He has given us all, bestowing on us the blessed, joyful task of creating Christmas traditions and making memories for the next generation, all while commemorating our Savior’s birth. What could possibly be a better use of our hands than this?
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This is the best kind of Christmas cheer. 😀
Beautiful!
Thanks! I needed this!
Beautiful! Thanks for this!
I read this and was greatly encouraged, but I have to confess that as the days passed and the preparations mounted, I started to grumble and think “It must be nice for my husband to have someone to do ALL the prep work for Christmas. He gets to show up and have everything already done.” But the Lord was quick to convict and remind me that my husband has an important role too. He is the “Christmas Wallet.” If not for his hard work on our behalf, we would have no money, and therefore no presents to wrap, food to prepare or a home in which to enjoy those things.
My husband chuckled when I thanked him for being the “Christmas Wallet” but it was important that I thank him nonetheless 🙂