For a brief, magical moment, I found myself enjoying being in a shopping centre at this crazy time of the year.

With my three-year-old high on my shoulders, I found myself singing Christmas songs, knowing it would bring a smile to his gorgeous, little face.

As hundreds of shoppers raced past me, eager to cross off the long list of gifts they had to buy, I thought to myself how much we all can easily lose sight of the real reason for the season.

If only we could again look through the eyes of a child to take in the true wonder of this time of year - the angels, the baby in a manger and the wise men searching for a king.

On Sunday night, our family took a tour through Maroochy Baptist Church’s magical Christmas production.

Each night hundreds are making the pilgrimage through old Bethlehem, meeting the characters of the greatest love story ever told, as well as watching a humorous musical.

Young children, eyes wide with excitement, delight in stepping back in time as our guides take us through the simple, but powerful story of how God sent his only son to become one of us.

More than 2000 years later there is still such power in a tale of how God would allow his own Son to die, so there would be a way back to Him for a fallen race.

As I watch week in and week out all that is going on in the world around us, I can’t help but feel that there has never been a greater need for a Saviour.

Church isn’t just a place for the downtrodden, those needing a "crutch" - someone or something to lean on. We all need someone greater than us to rely on.

To me, Christianity is not about religion. It is about a relationship.

It is about going to a place where you can connect with other people - and spend time connecting with God.

I believe there is a void in all of our lives that can only be filled by Him.We can run around and try to fill it with success, possessions, alcohol, drugs, sex, marriage and even family, but there is nothing quite like being completely still and just feeling the presence of something far greater than you.

It is something that I know hundreds of young people are beginning to discover as they turn to these so-called "new" churches in droves, looking to find something other than materialism to consume them.

Perhaps young people are more ready to believe than many of us - critics would say more gullible - but I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have my son or daughter hooked on God than turning to something else to fill the void.

As a country, Australia could do far worse than to return to the Christian foundations that many of the first Australians built their lives upon.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has promised an education revolution in our classrooms.

I, for one, hope that he becomes committed to a values revival in our schools.

We don’t need religion rammed down our kids’ throats. But we do need to give them a greater framework for life than "you grow up, get money, start a family, build a house, and acquire more things along the way than your neighbour to be a success".

If we rob the next generation of the spiritual dimension to life, we can expect only disappointment, despair and frustration as they are left to ponder what life is really all about.

A celebration of family and faith

Watching as a family united in grief to honour a wife, mother, sister and daughter yesterday, I could not help but think how proud Deborah Geary would have been of the family she had raised.

As we reported last week, Deborah was tragically taken in a car accident as she and her husband Jim were driving to pick up their daughter in far north Queensland.

We don’t know why she was taken, but for the family there was enormous comfort in knowing that she is in a far better place.

As Steven Geary braved getting up in front of a crowd of hundreds to pay tribute to his mum, I could not help to think what a great celebration of family and faith her funeral was.

Despite the incredible grief this family is going through, there was a peace in knowing that they will see their loved one again.

While life will never be same for them in the here and now, I’m sure the Geary family would not swap that assurance for all the Christmas presents in the world.

Best wishes to all this Christmas - and take time to see the magic of the season through the eyes of a child.