No greater love

Christmas is my 2nd favorite time of year.

Easter is my favorite; until this year.

This year I took my family to the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia. It is a 5 star resort that is one of the nations very finest resort locations. I read about the resort in Robb Report magazine and decided that this resort would be a great place to take my family and treat them to something special.

There are few places that I travel that exceed my expectations. The Greenbrier Resort did just that.

When we drove up to the resort, night had already fallen on the resort. We were greeted at the guard house and handed a placard to place on our dash for parking. It had our name printed on the card. The guard then welcomed us. “Welcome to the Greenbrier, Mr. and Mrs. Walz,” he said. “Parking is straight ahead to the valet.”

As we followed the path around the protective shrubbery, we were accosted by the magnificent 50 foot Christmas tree, brightly lit with multiple colored lights and adorned with a star on top. The tree was centered in the lawn in front of the mighty white building. At each of the four doors were bronze lions standing guard, greeting the guests. As the doorman opened the 15 foot glass framed doors, warmly with a smile, we stepped onto the white and black checkered marble and knocked the snow free from our shoes and onto the deep red carpet.
This was the beginning to our 5 star, heaven-on-earth experience. This experience has made Christmas my favorite time of year.

Prior to this experience, Christmas meant only the birth of the Savior. While important, I’ve always felt the sacrificial death and resurrection was much more important and therefore, special. Now that I’ve spent time in such a magnificent place, a place where an ordinary person is made to feel extraordinary, I understand the importance of Christmas.
To think that the living God, left heaven, to become man, and to be born in a manger expresses such an overwhelming sacrificial love, it is hard to put my appreciation of that act into words.

This time of year, when we think about friends, family, loved ones and the next year’s goals and dreams, we should take time to contemplate how God left, not a resort that is heaven like, but heaven itself to die for the ones he loves. We should strive to live our lives, lead our businesses, and treat our friends with the same love.

Then, every day will be like a day at the Greenbrier.