OPINION: Preparing for Christmas

Christ is the best gift of all. He came wrapped as the best package we could receive. Mary and Joseph might not have been all that prepared when Jesus was born. They did not have a place to give birth to our king; they did not have a place to stay after his birth and they were not given an instruction book on how to raise our Savior. They turned to God.

Our hearts are the only things that need preparing this advent season, and I am very guilty of getting caught up in the commercialism of the season.

One of our biggest guilty pleasures is watching “Christmas Vacation” while we decorate our home after Thanksgiving. We laugh, drink hot chocolate and repeatedly quote funny quips from the movie. We also enjoy decorating our house, making reindeer food and searching each morning for our silly little Elf on the Shelf, Holly. While none of these things bring glory to God, these are memories we make as a family during this time of year.

Our family also reads an advent devotion each morning; we attend a Christmas Eve candlelight service; we sponsor a family providing them with gifts and food; we pray and thank God for the most wonderful gift of all.

Our hearts are always searching for ways to be prepared. We admittedly fall short, but we recognize we can always do better. We will continue to turn to God to prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of our Savior. Merry Christmas!

Tricia Massey is a member of the Commerce Downtown Development Authority, serves on the board of the Boys & Girls Club, chairs the Commerce Public Library’s capital campaign and is marketing director for Northridge Medical Center. She lives in Commerce.