We sat over our steaming mugs, grateful for the opportunity for uninterrupted conversation. It was of deep things – of how to guide our tiny family, of how to live in this world but not be a part of it, of how and where to give, and of what the future might hold.

The heart of our discussion was how to practically live out James 1:27. 

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for widows and orphans in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
James 1:27

We had some ideas and they were surprisingly similar. God was moving us to the same place. We talked of financially supporting an orphanage. But where and how? Not sure of the next step, but grateful for the unity, we drained our cups and headed home.

God answered the very next day through an email from a friend – a friend who thought we might be interested in reading about an orphanage in Ecuador, so she sent us their newsletter. Certain this was God’s direction, we poured over the newsletter and their website.

And so we started giving to care for orphans in their distress.

We started giving to gain pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father.

We started giving out of love and obedience.

This time of year, I like to get alone before God and ask Him what the next year holds. I love the idea of a fresh start, a clean slate, and the endless possibilities of a new year. What could 2011 hold for you and me?

What does God want from us?  What does He desire to teach us? How will the path of our lives wander through valleys and climb mountaintops?

The past year was most likely filled with a mixture of joy and sorrow for you, just like it was for me. Life is rarely consistent. But God tells us to forget what is behind, for He is about to do a new thing.

But forget all that – it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.
Isaiah 43:18-19 (NLT)

God wants to do something new in our lives in 2011.

Our family is confident the next year will be focused on James 1:27 – our theme verse for 2011. How that will look and where that we take us, we have no idea. We are looking forward to finding out!

Have you considered a theme verse for your family for the new year?

I wrote a Christmas letter this year, like I have the two before, and sent it out to family and friends. It highlighted all the things the four of us have done over the past twelve months. The letter told of camping trips, and Senior Kindergarten, and conferences, and learning to write her name, and sports. An accurate snapshot of our lives.

But there were things missing – important things. Lessons we’ve learned, tears we’ve cried, struggles we’ve wrestled through on our knees.

The turning of the calendar to a new year is one of my favourite times. Before looking forward to the fresh start a new year brings, I automatically look back on the previous one. Evaluating where I am and where I’m going. Reflecting on what God has taught me and what He desires to do in and through me in the year to come. Measuring goals accomplished and setting new ones.

Ann talked yesterday about naming the years. I think over the last twelve months and wonder what to name it.

God has a habit of repeating a lesson in my life through a variety of ways – until I get it. Perhaps it’s the same with you. When a topic is repeated through circumstances, the Word, and things other people say, I begin to take note. As I’ve walked with God this past year, I’ve noticed some over-arching themes as He’s patiently endeavored to change my stubborn heart.

As 2010 began my mind was consumed with the Love Revolution – doing little things for other people each day. I started a list in an effort to remain intentional and made it to March. After that I continued I look for ways to bless people, but stopped keeping a record. I was beginning to shift my focus from inward to outward.

God brought me through a painful season mid-year of showing me idols in my life: things I had allowed to creep into that place in my heart due only to Him (1 John 5:21). My internal voice was saying: My life will only be meaningful if I have a spiritually thriving marriage; if I move to a bigger house; if I become an accomplished writer. God forced me to play out each scenario and to seriously consider what would happen if those things never happened. Would I still love and trust Him? Would I still serve Him? Would I be found faithful?

The latter part of the year found me facing my fixation on the things of this world. 1 John 2:15-17 became the weapon I consistently used to battle this unhealthy dependence. Do not love this world, nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. God was teaching me to set my sights on higher things. My husband and I made a guideline about giving in relation to purchasing items we wanted. God spoke to me over and over through Scripture about the poor versus the rich and made me realize that I am incredibly rich compared to most of the world. He began to show me my responsibilities toward the poor. And this lesson has only begun.

I know now what to call 2010: The year of letting go.

Letting go of self.

Letting go of idols.

Letting go of the things of this world.

Don’t misunderstand me. I have a long long way to go. Each of these areas is still a struggle for me – a daily battle. But I can say I have a new awareness of where I am and where I need to be.

The year of letting go.

How would you describe 2010?

Where have you and God been together? How has He shown Himself to you? How has he changed you? What has He been teaching you? How has He proven Himself faithful? How has your relationship with Him grown? Are you seeking after Him today with greater intensity than yesterday?

Weeks of preparing for Christmas – the endless shopping, baking, wrapping, and decorating can create expectations for the holidays this world simply cannot fulfill.

Dreams of a perfect Christmas come crashing down when a child whines disappointment over a gift, or siblings argue over the new toy, or the turkey is slightly dry, or joy doesn’t fill as completely as you’d hoped it might.

I wonder if it’s because we’ve made Christmas something it was never intended to be. Our expectations for the holidays often rest in things of the world – gifts, family, food – all of which can never completely satisfy.

True contentment is not found in gifts, but in the Giver.

True joy is not found in family, but in the Father.

Our deepest craving is not for something, it is for Someone.

I heard the comment recently that our culture has made Christmas about family – a seemingly noble focus – instead of Christ, the only true focus. Perhaps it is here we’ve gone wrong. No wonder the day is difficult for those who are alone, or those who have strained relationships, or even for families who struggle with differences in faith.

If the focus were truly Christ at Christmas, could we ever be left with that all-too-familiar vague feeling of disappointment? I don’t think so.

The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.
Isaiah 9:2 (NLT)

In another week or so, the tree will be packed away, the lights will fade, and the gifts will join the rest of the accumulated things in our homes. This is the part of Christmas that will not last.

But the true Light of Christmas shines on.

The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world… So the Word became flesh and made his home anong us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
John 1:9,14 (NLT)

The Light came to dwell among men, and not just for a day – a mere 24 hours – but for the next day and the next. We carry the light of Christ beyond Christmas back into our neighbourhoods, our workplaces and our world. We take joy, hope and peace with us.

You are the light of the world – like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
Matthew 5:14-16 (NLT)

The celebration does not need to end.

• 74 Christmas letters sent

• 25 days of advent… counting on the calendar and reading through her inspired words

• 20 people gathered around the table on Christmas day

• 12 times giggling down the hill

• 11 people gathered around the turkey on Christmas Eve

• 6 batches of chestnuts… now almost all gone

• 6 stockings hanging  by the tree

• 5 yummy Christmas dinners spread out over the month of December

• 4 in our little family celebrating together

• 4 little cousins doing their best to smile for one last picture before opening gifts

• 3 gifts of Christmas

• 2 excited children on Christmas morning, listening intently to the Christmas story

• 2 exhausted children after many busy days

• 1 babe in a manger over 2000 years ago… the reason for our celebration.

I wake with a certain sadness laying heavy over me like the dark.

I know why. Today we will celebrate Christmas without Christ.

He will barely be mentioned in the midst of the lavish food, the pretty wrappings, and the twinkling lights. A party without the guest of honour.

Our party is not unique. Many similar celebrations will take place in families like ours across the country and beyond. We come together to celebrate Christmas, but in many households, the focus is on other (perhaps good) things and the Christ-child is forgotten.

I slip quietly from the bed and tiptoe down the darkened stairs to find light by the Christmas tree. Pulling my Bible from it’s shelf I turn to the place where the Christmas story is told – the very first Christmas – and I read it in its entirety.

I struggle between what I read in these pages and what I see in the world. The two versions of Christmas are vastly different – polar opposites even.

I feel the pull. On one hand I desperately want Christmas to be Christ – alone. I can’t control all our family get-togethers, but I can dramatically influence Christmas for our tiny family. How can this simple, yet profound story transform our Christmas experience? I sit by the light of the tree and wonder how Christ can become the centre of this holiday season for us.

Then on the other hand, I feel the weight of the world’s expectations for the season. I shop and shop and once the gifts are piled under the tree I worry it’s not enough. The simple decorations adorning our home are somewhat old and tired and look nothing like the magazine covers. I worry it’s not enough. I only bake one kind of Christmas cookie. I worry it’s not enough.

Whenever Christmas begins to burden, it’s a sign that I’ve taken on something of the world and not of Christ.
 - Ann Voskamp

Not only does the weight of the world lie heavy on my heart, but then there are my own misplaced expectations. As I dream about Christmas I envision two smiling children; the older looking handsome in his pressed pants and dress shirt; the younger twirling in her pretty Christmas dress, curls bouncing as she moves. And of course, both are behaving perfectly.

I’ve searched the stores for the perfect Christmas dress for her – the one I see in my mind’s eye. I find many, but all come with a sizeable price tag.

“Does she really need a Christmas dress?” her father asks.

I’m tempted to say yes, but slowly shake my head.

I know she doesn’t need a Christmas dress. And I don’t need a perfectly decorated home, or more presents under the tree, or a table overflowing with home-made goodness. She and I both need the same thing: a Christ-filled Christmas – we all do.

Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
Habakkuk 3:17-18 (NLT)

Could we say the same thing if given a similar scenario this Christmas? Even though there may be no presents under the tree, even though there may be no food on the table, and even though the glitter of Christmas may be entirely absent from our homes, would we still rejoice in the Lord (Habakkuk 3:17-18)?

Would we still celebrate His birth?

If Christmas was void of gifts and garland, sweets and treats, parties and parades, and all that was left was a babe in a manger in a lowly town 2,000 years ago, would we still be moved to make merry? If Christmas was stipped of all it’s sparkle and glamour would we still rejoice because He truly is the reason for the season?

Is Jesus really enough this Christmas?

I pray He is not only enough, but He is ALL we desire this Christmas.