Luke 2:11

 Merry Christmas to one and all from the Greenaways! What a phenomenal joy it has been to serve alongside all of you another year. Indeed, we are truly blessed, all of us, to come to the end of another most eventful but God-filled year. It remains an undeniable fact that He kept showing up over and over again. Every time the enemy attempted to count us down and out, we disappointed every evil plan of the Evil One. We proved the prophetic word true – “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore, will I hope in Him” (Lamentations 3:22-24).

 What I find exciting about this time of the year is that we get a few moments to slow down somewhat and to spend treasured time with family and loved ones – time to unwind a little and reflect on God’s goodness to us individually and to humankind in general. God has been good to us!

 This year in the Greenaway family, we were especially blessed to welcome a new addition to our family. We heartily thank the good Lord for bringing little Zaiah Jamie-Lee Christina to us safely. She is indeed a bundle of joy, even when she is screaming her little head off. We get to be the doting grandparents. We stand amazed at God’s overflowing grace and kindness.

 Today, in spite of all the joy, the enemy attacked. Someone slammed into Sister Chris’s car, causing her to crash into the eighteen-wheeler in front of her. The car was totaled, but she came out with minor cuts and bruises. We are so grateful to the lord for spared and kept life! The person who rear-ended her quickly sped away, leaving her trapped in the car, but God kept her safe and calm until help arrived. This only adds to the many things for which we are eternally grateful!

 We are more determined than ever to give Him praise and to celebrate His goodness for allowing us to be here another Christmas. I humbly challenge all of us to return to the spirituality of Christmas and our Christmas message.

 This is really not about the Christmas tree, the lights, the gifts, the eating, the drinking, and the shopping without reason or limits. It’s about really giving the Infinite/Personal God praise for remembering us! We celebrate the Incarnation – the eternal Word becoming flesh and tabernacling with us! What a glorious thought – God with us, forever in human flesh appearing, forever breaking the curse that disempowered us for so long. For real, “. . . good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10,11).

 As we rejoice and celebrate, please let us not forget the sad, the lonely and the less fortunate, especially those that we know have lost a loved one or loved ones this year. Let us enthusiastically reach beyond ourselves to ease the pain and suffering of others as He has done for us. For that is what Christmas is all about.

We wish you the merriest Christmas! God’s forever richest blessings on you. Have the best Christmas!