What does this time of year mean to you?

As I thought about sending out a Merry Christmas blog, I thought, maybe some people don't celebrate Christmas or the birth of Christ. Whatever it is that you and yours decide to celebrate, Embrace Farm wishes you the best during this time of year and all year.

To address the question posed "What does this time of year mean to you"? I will share a few things from our hearts to yours. Over the past year, I've been asked to speak at a retirement community. I am honored to speak my heart anywhere and pray that those that hear are blessed and encouraged. Earlier this month when asked to speak, I spoke on how to keep Christ in Christmas. Attempting to identify the difficulty of keeping it a worldwide celebration yet a set apart (holy) celebration can be difficult to navigate.

I was surprised the most expensive Christmas tree is in a Sunni Muslim nation. It's valued at 11.4 million US dollars and is located in Abu Dhabi. (Pictured above)

https://financesonline.com/most-expensive-christmas-trees-in-the-world/

https://theworldofinfo.com/abu-dhabi/religion/

Recognizing that, "Christmas", must mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. From the "Santa Claus" who knows when you're sleeping and when you're awake and knows if you've been good or bad, to an Islamic nation investing 11.4 million dollars on a Christmas tree. People can call something one thing and mean a lot of different things. This happens with nearly everything. Then how do we know what is what? There used to be standards that defined what is what in most cultures. A written record that disclosed information based on cause and effect or just plain observations. "Truths" so to speak. A quick internet search came up with the Diamond Sutra being the oldest book known and was printed in AD 868.

There is a lot of information out there and may leave one scratching their heads, wondering what to believe. We believe the Bible by choice. One of the truths presented in the Bible is that "it is by their fruit that you will know them" Matthew 7:16. People may say one thing, but do another and when they are doing what is contrary to what they are saying, they're a liar. Not because I said so, but because their words and actions provide the evidence. Both can be viewed with bias or objectively.

The Bible records 200-400 prophecies written over the span of 700 years by 12 different people that Jesus fulfilled in 30some years of earthly life. That is a truth that can be viewed with bias or objectively. I have viewed it through both sets of eyes. Naturally, viewing it through objective eyes carries much more weight. The theme of servanthood was talked about and carried out without comparison. The story of our Creator leaving His throne, to be born in a feeding trough because the inn keeper had no room, was just setting a stage for what is evident today. We as a people have little, to no room for the Truth within our internal "inn's". We deflect, replace, and make things whatever suits us in the moment, while still calling them the same things. That is motivated by self seeking and leads to confusion. This can happen internally and externally.

Among other areas, this grossly happens within our culture when it comes to food. We've redefined what meat is, what cheese is, what milk is and so on. It's confusing. We want to provide originally defined items for ourselves and for others as long as we are able. We understand the confusion and want to offer a solution that you can be confident in.

Embrace Farm wishes you and your's a very Merry Christmas. (Whatever that means to you) We hope that it is filled with enjoyable times, friends, and family which paves the way into a prosperous New Year.