Forgive me while I vent a little – HA!  Call me crazy, but it feels like Christmas is out of control this year.  Just yesterday I was listening to the radio while driving, and a commercial from our friendly neighbourhood Walmart came on.  They were targeting last minute shoppers with a generic message about how great they are, and finished the add by suggesting a great 'gift idea'.  That's not so crazy in and of itself.  What hit me funny was the nature of their great 'gift idea'.  Hold on for what may change someones Christmas!! – a $400 GPS unit!!

Does that hit anyone else as insane!  When did Christmas gifts hit the $400 – $4000 mark?  Truth is $4000 is nothing according to car companies this Christmas.  Their great gift idea is a brand new $40,000 car.  No word of a lie, I saw a BMW commercial the other day that was suggesting their cars as a brilliant 'gift idea'.

I guess what has really hit me is how far we've drifted from the real 'meaning of Christmas'.  Simply put, it is to be a celebration of God's gift to us in Jesus – Not the accumulation of more 'stuff'.  Christmas doesn't need to get 'bigger and better' from one year to the next (even if retail budgets & goals do).  The glory of Christmas is bigger than any of us could ever comprehend.  I pray that somehow Jesus isn't lost in the gigantic pile of store flyers that keep piling up in my mailbox, or in the running from one Christmas party to another.  I pray that this next week brings moments of deep rest and reflection in which God is able to not only speak, but be heard.  Keep your BMW with it's GPS Unit all decked out and ready to carry me from one over crowded Walmart to the next.  All I really 'long for' this Christmas is the chance to be with friends and family, and to commune with my Saviour.  In all honesty… isn't that what it's all about?