Thanks to my guest blogger for today…my husband! I asked him if I could post the communion meditation he shared on Sunday. It’s definitely worth your time and thought. (Thanks, Tim!)

Have you ever opened a gift and overlooked something? With 12-15 people exchanging gifts, our Christmas family gatherings provide many chances to overlook something important. My mother-in-law, Nancy, has developed a plan for this. All leftover gift wrapping trash goes into bags that she keeps around for a few days – in case anything comes up missing.  When my wife was young, her parents gave her a nice necklace – and after all the gifts been opened and the trash taken away, there was no necklace.

Sometimes we miss, or misplace, the main thing and have to go back and find it.  My mother-in-law knows we sometimes miss the main thing and she has a plan.

Sometimes we get so caught up in comparing our stuff to others’ stuff that we miss the main thing. Or we get so focused on spending time with friends and family that we miss it. Or we grow so tired of all the commercialization that we step back from all of it and miss the main thing.

While I enjoy our Christmas traditions, sometimes I have to step aside and go through the wrapping paper of my spiritual life, of my busyness, and come face to face with Jesus. 

Don’t throw the baby out with the wrapping paper.