A strange Christmas

This has got to be the strangest Christmas of my life. It was my second Christmas without my mom. Last year my dad and I went to Uganda for Christmas to be with my sister, so it was a huge distraction to celebrating the holiday without my mom. I'm sure you can imagine—the vaccinations, the travel, the excitement of going to a new country, of seeing my nephews—it was such a unique Christmas, it was easy to mask the fact that we were missing my mother.

This year Christmas snuck up on me. I didn't think it would be hard, but it was. I didn't realize that not only is my mom gone, but this was my first Christmas ever without my sister. It made for a pretty strange Christmas this year. It was just me and my dad. It wasn’t bad, just different. It was quiet and it felt empty in a lot of ways.

Yeah, Christmas is about kids and family. But I’m glad that is not what it’s really about. Because when the kids are in Africa, and family is scarce, there is still reason to celebrate. God, the Creator of the universe humbled Himself and became a man. He was born as a baby in a manager, in a humble stable. That is the God I serve. And I’m so thankful.