True Holiday Spirit

​As I write this, I am sitting on a plane to travel home for the holidays.  I had an interesting experience prior to boarding this flight that made me consider the type of Christmas spirit we should have as Christians approaching December 25th.

​All three of our gate attendants were unusually cheerful.  One was singing a familiar Christmas jingle over the intercom and she got a good chuckle from the crowd waiting to board.  The other two played recorded Christmas songs over the intercom.  If you fly often, you know that this is not a common occurrence.  In fact, ours was the only gate playing any Christmas music at all.  Other airline employees walked past our gate with a slightly confused look on their faces.  Obviously this was just a fun and silly way for our gate attendants to spread some holiday cheer.  People can sometimes get grumpy while flying and this seemed to lighten the mood a bit.  

​Their silly gesture made me think about how we should act regarding Christmas.  It can be so easy to make a ton of holiday plans and obsess over perfecting all of the details for each gift and holiday party.  As Christians, though, we know the true reason that Christmas is so important.  It’s not just about seeing family and friends or getting some time off of work.  It is a day we set aside each year to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Without Him, there is no cause for celebration; there is no reason to be overjoyed.  As we go about our typical holiday traditions like wrapping Christmas presents or laying out cookies and milk for Santa, we must not let those things consume our focus.  Holiday traditions are wonderful things to take part in but we cannot simply go through the motions just to check things off of our lists.  We should be giddy to celebrate Jesus’ birth!  We should be overflowing with joy and excitement to share the spirit of Christmas with anyone and everyone who will listen.

​“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”  (Luke 2:8-11).

Taleya Williamson is the Operations Manager at New Beginnings.  She was born and raised in Puyallup, Washington and attended Evergreen Lutheran High School.  Taleya recently graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran College with a Bachelors of Science in psychology with a minor in anthropology.  In her free time, Taleya enjoys spending time with her husband, David.

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