Two Christmases

This Christmas would be a different Christmas for me, even for others.

First, after lots of work at school, I still couldn't feel it's Christmas. I think it's because I'm strained at working and toiling for the sake of good grades, forgetting that I have to enjoy Christmas. But now, I can enjoy it at last.

Also, I'll learn to be creative and meaningful of my gifts. I won't buy and buy.

Those are just examples of how my Christmas would be different. But here's the thing that really makes this Christmas different: It's two Christmases.

 One Christmas would be almost a cold season, with parols shining everywhere and Christmas trees flashing with colorful lights. The other is a tragedy of flashfloods. People swimming through vast of floods, people around rubble, people around darkness.

 One Christmas would be a joyous celebration for families, for relatives. They'll be together in a table, eating that delicious noche buena, the Christmas ham being the main attraction at the center. The other would be an almost hopeless fate for families. For some it is full of cries and grief, knowing that their loved ones are gone, no more to be seen. For some, it is a quest of finding for their loved ones. They are not losing hope, yet it might lose at some time.

One Christmas would be a family together at one home. The other a family without any home to reside.

One Christmas would be a time of giving and receiving gifts. The other a time to find for a place to reside, a time to reflect. But it's a blessing for them to be given help that they need.

One Christmas would be a joyous celebration. The other a struggle, a sad happening. Yet, out of all this things, one Christmas still stands out and remains for each and everyone.

That Christmas is a celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. We may not exactly say when He was born. But what's important is that God, out of love, gave us His Son, a Savior who loves and who redeems. Through what He has done on the cross, we're still living.We're saved. All you need to do is to receive that gift of salvation.

I sympathize with those who were affected by this typhoon. I pray that they'll be able to rise up again. Kindly include them in your prayers. Let God's grace and love be among them all.

An advanced Merry Christmas to all of you!