Well Said
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"it"
by Jovanna Gomez
It's Christmas and I get it. The "it" that Dean has been preaching about since Christmas on the Moon. The it that is my salvation. The it that is my forgiveness. It's my 25th holiday season on Earth and I finally understand why I celebrate Christmas.
I finally understand the magnitude of that baby being born in a manger. He came to save me. He came to save you. Because of Him, who was born on Christmas Day, and after living the perfect life, made the ultimate sacrifice on the Cross, you and I are free. I've always known that the trees, the lights, and the gifts were all a celebration of Jesus. I understood it was his birthday. How that was relevant to me (besides a bloated Amex bill), was a different story. But this year, my heart is different. It's not in a way that I can fully explain but I am just amazed and completely thankful at hearing the Christmas story. This story that seemed irrelevant to me not so long ago now feels like it was written just for me. And the beauty of it is, in a sense, it was. It was written just for me and for you and for everyone else who chooses to believe in it. To believe in Him.
Growing up in Uruguay and having Spanish/Colombian parents, my Christmas songs have historically been in Spanish. Since being here and learning English, I've always heard the Christmas songs, but I never really listened. Almost like skipping over a word in a sentence I didn't understand, I'd sing the stories I didn't fully comprehend. This year, all that has changed. I found myself on my tippy toes this Sunday at church, struggling to read the words from the back row. I wanted to see what they were saying, I wanted to read the stories I was listening to. I wanted to so bad because I know they are true and completely relevant to me. Then as we were singing the last song, Away in a Manger, I sang the wrong words. The wrong words which I realized were right...."Be near me Lord Jesus, I ask you to stay, close by me forever..." and instead of singing I ask you, I sang I beg you. I realized that this Christmas, that is my prayer: Be near me Lord Jesus, I beg you to stay...
Understanding Christmas is the best gift I could ever ask for and I have to shamelessly thank The Well for facilitating the revelation of this message that God so desperately wanted me to hear for so long. Because Dean and this church's mission is for us to get "it," I got it. And now my life is changed.
This Christmas, I am giving Jesus my heart. And while it may seem like it's a gift to Him, it's really a gift to me because with my heart in His hands, there is nothing else I could ask for.
Merry Christmas.
(Jovanna Gomez just finished her first semester in FSU's MBA program. She works for the Florida Bankers Association and is spending this Christmas with her family in Miami, Florida, USA.)
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