What is your idea of a Happy Christmas?

Typhoon Ruby PH or Typhoon Hagupit has been hammering the country since yesterday. And as we prepare to “typhoon proof” our home and ensure the safety of the numerous pets that we have, I could not help but ask myself how I define my Christmas, now that I know so many of my kababayans are suffering…

Family at DSWD

Family at DSWD

Around the same time last year, the kids and I volunteered at DSWD to help pack rice and canned goods for the victims of then Typhoon Haiyan / Typhoon Yolanda PH, especially for the badly hit Tacloban. We also decided to offer some of our Christmas money as we knew we had some to spare. We also decided to join Gang Badoy and James Deakin’s project of driving the Tacloban survivors who arrived in Manila, to their relatives. I remember meeting so many great and dedicated people. But sadly, this year might just be a little different…

For starters, our company ROAR is taking a beating. I will save the details for another blog post. Let’s just say that 2014 wasn’t really our year (or at least the latter part of this year wasn’t as good as last year). Second is that our well-loved car, Wendy; has been at the mechanic for over 5 months now (and counting…). Lastly, we might not have as “good a Christmas” compared to last year, and it is just depressing.

After which I wondered, does a bountiful Christmas automatically mean a Happy Christmas? Or if a Christmas celebration is less than what we are accustomed to, does it automatically constitute a sad or a “bad” Christmas?

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful." -- Norman Vincent Peale

After much thought, I realized one thing: the Christmas Season seems to bring out the best in people. I remember thinking, during one of our graveyard shifts at DSWD last year, that so many people REALLY wanted to help, that so many people wanted to make an impact on the lives of others; once given the opportunity to do so. I remember feeling so overwhelmed at the outpouring of love everywhere: At DSWD, at the Villamor Air Base, even at our local barangay. Everyone just wanted to help our poor kababayans whose Christmases will never be the same, because of the loved ones they lost during Typhoon Yolanda.

“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!” ― Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

A) It is all about GRACE.

Christmas is a season for remembering Christ, celebrating His birth; and in celebration of that birth, we GIVE; just as God gives, through His Grace. We are who we are and we are what we have become, all the good things in us; all through God’s Grace. And it is also through that same Grace that we are able to celebrate His birth with our loved ones, friends, and even co-workers.

Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves. ~Eric Sevareid

B) It is all about GRATITUDE.

Christmas is also a Celebration of Thanks. Giving gifts to the people that we care about signifies that we are thankful and grateful for those people, that through our gift-giving we celebrate who they have become in our lives. It is also a time when we thank God for the gift of Jesus.  

C) It is a Time of GIVING.

Christmas is a time when we think less of ourselves and more of the people around us. It is the time when we give freely, without questions or doubts.

D) It is a Time of REFLECTION.

Christmas is usually a time when we reflect on who we are and what we have become, our lives, and the people around us, we also reflect on the lives of others, of the lives of those we love, of those who have touched us in a deep way. It is a time when we reflect on the good and the bad things we have done.

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: is the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. ~Burton Hillis

E) It is a Time for FAMILY.

Christmas is a Time for Family. It is the time of year when we really get to spend quantity and quality time with our families.   

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and the love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas time. ~Laura Ingalls Wilder

F) It is a Time to Feel like a Child again.

Many say that Christmas is for children. Do you remember what it was like for you as a child on Christmas Day? Christmas is a wonderful time for a child, filled with so much anticipation and uncontained excitement. Although many of us parents will say that Christmas is a time of frantic planning and shopping and chaos! I don’t know about you but it is every Christmas that I feel I am a child again. I get excited with the presents I have wrapped for the people I love, all the good food, and my favorite part, expressing to the people I love how much I truly care for them without feeling silly or “weak”.

One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don't clean it up too quickly. ~Andy Rooney

I just had to insert that saying/quote because the chaos during the holiday season just makes me so emotional, in a good way. I am happy to see that the people I love, loved the food I prepared, and I super love watching their expressions as they open one gift at a time and see the happiness written all over their faces.

“Want to keep Christ in Christmas? Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, forgive the guilty, welcome the unwanted, care for the ill, love your enemies, and do unto others as you would have done unto you.”

― Steve Maraboli

G) It is about HOPE and FAITH

This is actually my favorite part about Christmas. HOPE (and FAITH).

Christmas is so magical, so powerful, and you feel it in the air; and you feel it everywhere.

But the HOPE in our hearts during Christmas time is even more magical, even more powerful.  Our ability to love one another, to bring hope into our lives and the lives of others, is the greatest of gifts to give and to receive. 

Christmas may be a time for sharing, gift-giving, and celebrating; but the greatest gifts are not those wrapped in colorful bows.  They are gifts given with an open, giving, and vulnerable heart, gifts wrapped in the ribbons of hope and faith in ourselves and in others.

During Christmastime, our HOPE in ourselves and in others multiplies, our faith in ourselves and others restored. Our HOPE for a better tomorrow is rekindled.   

"I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year." 

– Charles Dickens

These are words of wisdom that should be echoed all year long.

Do I still think we are going to have a “bad” or rotten Christmas this year? Maybe. But then again, maybe not. Many are suffering, and the good Lord is giving me and my family a chance to give as God has given. To Give through His Grace because we are grateful for all the things the good Lord has made possible and has blessed us with, all year long. If we do not have much to give monetarily, we will give of ourselves and our time, the same way we did last year; with or without a car. We will give HOPE to those who have none. 

We will give, as we have received.

God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience but shouts in our pain: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world." (C.S. Lewis; 1898-1963)