Two days till Christmas!!

Today was dubbed at the busiest shopping day of the year as was the last full day that shoppers could use to go out there and get all their presents for Christmas. Tomorrow will be Christmas Eve and many places will close early. Transport services will curtail early evening as well, even the 24-hour services like Tesco will prepare for closure on Christmas Day. Christmas is indeed a very big holiday. The whole world celebrates it. No - I take that back. The whole world acknowledges it. Christmas Day is when families traditionally gather round together. When sons and daughters who live abroad return to their parents. When distant relatives whom you have not seen for years get invited over for dinner and you pull crackers together, cut turkey, tell jokes, drink wine, update each other with what's happening, drink more wine. Haha! Is Christmas just about family gatherings and presents? Nah! Honestly, the name Christmas says it all: "CHRIST-mas". Jesus Christ is what it should mainly about. As Christians, we remind ourselves and others of the real reason we treat this occasion with such importance - that it is to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ who came down to Earth as a human baby, who then grew up to be a Holy man and spent His life telling as many people as He could about God's love for man and how to follow God with your heart, your soul and your mind. In the end, He himself became the ultimate sacrifice made to God and that provided man a channel to reach to God without making animal sacrifices or burning stuff at the alter. Jesus' resurrection from the dead provides us the Easter celebration - which is the greatest story a true believing Christian could use to testify how great and awesome and powerful Jesus is :) For those who have yet to know Jesus, Christmas is just a holiday. In America instead of calling is Christmas they commonly wish each other "Happy holidays". How sad. They don't even want to call it Christmas!

Oh another thing. Christmas... is also commonly abbreviated as "xmas", on text messages, on Christmas cards, on slogans, whatever. But why use "xmas" and not Christmas? Maybe it's just shorthand some might say. Save some space on text messages. As a Christian, I would choose to use the full word Christmas instead of "xmas" following the masses. I think the name of Christ is very powerful. The name of Christ can heal. The name of Christ should not be hidden.

Tiredness is kicking in now at 11:46pm. More tired than usual because I was at Body Pump class today after my own workout. Made the class extra tough. In any case, I was very thankful today that the weather was not as bad as yesterday. In fact, I did not see any snowfall today and the snow left on the ground has started to melt and clear away, which is great. It might, or might not be a white Christmas. But one thing is for sure, as a driver, I don't view heavy snowfall as "beautiful" as those who do not drive. The amount of trouble is causes drivers and the deterioration in driving conditions are hazardous. But in any case, snow is from God and I am thankful I have witnessed snow in this country as many countries around the world can only dream of seeing or touching the snowflakes. =)

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