A CHRISTMAS MARRIAGE

In the Christmas season we often hear it said, "Let's focus on Christ this Christmas." It is easy in that season to be distracted by many things other than the importance of Christ coming to us. We often get caught up in the gifts, parties, cooking, and decorating, so we forget to really focus on Jesus Christ. In the same way, when we experience marriage, we can get caught up with work, kids, schedules, and stress. And we forget to keep Christ in the center of our marriage relationship. A Christmas marriage is one with a daily focus on the gift of Christ's life in us. In any marriage, a wife can choose a Christmas marriage for herself no matter what her husband chooses.

In the Christmas season we often hear it said, "Let's focus on Christ this Christmas." It is easy in that season to be distracted by many things other than the importance of Christ coming to us. We often get caught up in the gifts, parties, cooking, and decorating, so we forget to really focus on Jesus Christ. In the same way, when we experience marriage, we can get caught up with work, kids, schedules, and stress. And we forget to keep Christ in the center of our marriage relationship. A Christmas marriage is one with a daily focus on the gift of Christ's life in us. The ideal marriage would be for both individuals in the relationship to have that same focus; learning life lessons together, helping each other grow spiritually. But even when only one marriage partner is focused on a Christmas marriage, God has an open door to come in and bring rich blessings of peace, joy, and contentment. In any marriage, a wife can choose a Christmas marriage for herself no matter what her husband chooses.

Nadine Wood Massingill is a native Texan and a graduate of Texas State University in San Marcos with BS and master's degrees. She taught school three years and then completed counseling certification. At her church she also completed the biblical counseling training course and served as a lay counselor in the church counseling center. In addition to counseling in her church she served as a school counselor in San Antonio for twenty years. It was her personal experience to grow up in a home with wonderful Christian parents who had a very troubled marriage. Many conflicts in that home could have been resolved with the application of some simple Christian principles, which have been shared here for the benefit of others. She and her husband, Jim, were married 48 years. She has two grown children, 7 grandchildren, and she lives in Round Rock, Texas.