I Miss the Thrill of Christmas

I remember what Christmas Eve used to be like. As a kid it was the most exciting day of the year. It was even more exciting than Christmas itself. There is something about anticipation excites the emotions. I miss that. I was reminded of it when I woke Drew (my three year old son) this morning.

Typically waking Drew would draw a grumpy, grouchy, leave me alone kind of reaction. Today I said, "Drew, its Christmas Eve". You would have thought he heard the ice cream truck bells. Drew sprung up and sported a smile usually reserved for desert time. Something about Christmas (o.k. let's be honest we all know it's the gifts) sparks an enthusiasm in kids that if it were channeled could power the world for days.

I miss that enthusiasm in my self. Not just for Christmas but for lots of things. As I take inventory I wonder where the enthusiasm has gone. What am I getting pumped about? What drives me? What am I so excited about I can hardly wait until its arrival? The thing that drives the excitement in kids is they know what's coming. They know the next day there will be a tree hovering over a mound of presents and they'll spend the morning tearing into the gifts they've been dreaming about for weeks. Maybe that's what we all need to recapture. An anticipation of what the future looks like. Maybe when I think of the future I just assume it's going to be pretty much like the present. I'll be stuck in my same ruts and the people around will be still caught in theirs. Maybe we should take a new look at the future and see what it could be.

I imagine Jesus' disciples had this kind of anticipation everyday. Everyday they saw the blind people - given sight. They saw the crippled get up and walk. They saw lepers healed and even the dead receive life again.

God, refresh my vision for the wonderful future you have for your people. Help me to believe it for them when they can't believe it for themselves. And than wake me every morning with a new excitement about what I'll get to see You do during the day.

"the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.”*

*Matthew 11:5 (New Living Translation) New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.