Christmas Spirit

Now that I've had a few days to reflect on Christmas, the family I got to see and all the presents I gave and received, I have a few thoughts that came about because of the Christmas Holiday.  
1. I am very blessed!
          a. I have a week of paid vacation time between X-mas and New Years!
          b. I gave and received my fair share of gifts!
          c. I spent Christmas with a lot of family and had a huge meal!
          d. I have a beautiful, healthy family

2. I can often disguise those blessings as entitlements.  It seems like the more I have, the more I seem entitled to. We're about to have our 2nd little girl anytime now and we get to choose all these "options."  We get to pick the doctor, pick the hospital, pick if we want to keep it, we can even possibly pick the date by scheduling induction or C-Section.  I think back to the very first Christmas when Jesus was born (remember that's the real Christmas Story) how the Son of God himself didn't even have a hotel room to be born in.  He was born in a barn, with the animals! And Joseph, Jesus' earthly father, was probably the one to deliver the baby!  I'm pretty sure my wife wouldn't be cool with a barn baby and though it would be cool to say I delivered our daughter, I think I'll leave it to the doctor.  :)

3. The people that Sarah and I want to serve in Honduras, aren't guaranteed money if they want a week off, don't have an education to even get a job where that may be a possibility.  They may have their babies in a hospital if they can find someone with a car to drive them there.  And they certainly don't have huge feasts like we get every major holiday or birthday.  I can go on and on about what we have and what they don't, but I think you get the idea.

These more or less random thoughts have actually made me want to serve the people in Honduras even more.  I've realized in my life that I have more than I probably deserve and I want to give back to people that don't have the opportunities that I've had and will have in my future.  There are lots of people around the world, including the US that don't have much, but Sarah and I feel that we are being called to Honduras, so that's where we're headed.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year