Inspiration

A relationship with Jesus replaces the performance of spirituality as a religious duty.

Christmas demonstrates that God loved us first and reminds us of all that implies.

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A 4-year-old boy who was asked to give thanks before the family's Christmas Eve dinner. The family members bowed their heads in expectation.

He began his prayer, thanking God for all his friends (naming them one by one). Then he thanked God for Mommy, Daddy, brother, sis, Grandma, Grandpa, and all his aunts and uncles.

Then he began to thank God for the food.

He gave thanks for the turkey, the dressing, the fruit salad, the cranberry sauce, the potatoes, the rolls, the butter, the drinks. Then it was on to the desserts, the pies, the cakes, even the Cool Whip.

“Waiting is an art that our impatient age has forgotten. It wants to break open the ripe fruit when it has hardly finished planting the shoot. But all too often the greedy eyes are only deceived; the fruit that seemed so precious is still green on the inside, and disrespected hands ungratefully toss aside what has so disappointed them.” 
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas