Well, here we are… three days before Christmas.
How are we doing? What are we busy with today?
As we’ve been Rediscovering Christmas, I’ve enjoyed the road we’ve traveled together thus far. Thanks for joining me today.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes (most times) Christmas isn’t storybook perfect. There were years I had an unrealistic expectation of how Christmas should “happen.” And, when it didn’t happen that way I thought it should, I would find myself disappointed. I would let my disappointment ruin Christmas.
Maybe Christmas isn’t looking very storybook perfect for you this year. Maybe this season isn’t anything you expected it to be. And quite possibly it’s more of a messy Christmas than a merry Christmas.
What do we do when it’s a messy Christmas?
I suggest we embrace it.
Eventually I came to the realization that each Christmas is different. And no matter how it plays out–even if it’s more messy than merry–it’s going to be okay. Christmas isn’t about what “happens” anyway, is it?
It’s not about what’s going on around us, but more about what’s happening in us.
It’s not so much having to do with how Christmas looks and feels, but more about the reality of the hope it brings.
If your Christmas is a bit messy this year, Christ is still in it.
I say embrace the messy. Let it play out in our lives. Maybe others need to see that we don’t have it all together all the time. Maybe someone needs to see that messy can still be beautiful.
A messy Christmas can still be a beautiful Christmas.
We’ve walked through the first Christmas in the past few weeks here, and we came face to face with messy. The mess of a virgin girl becoming pregnant by the Holy Spirit. The mess of a carpenter deciding to quietly divorce his pregnant fiance, but followed what the angel in his dream told him to do. There was the mess of traveling to Bethlehem, and then no room to be found in the inn. And, we certainly can’t forget the mess of the stable, and the baby being born in feeding trough.
The first Christmas was messy, indeed. But look at what arrived in that mess… Jesus, the Savior of the world.
A mess can be a beautiful thing. And, as in the first Christmas story, messy can change our lives.
Just because Christmas may look like a mess, doesn’t mean it is. God might just be working through the messy in ways only He can. Let’s trust Him through it this year. And, may we shine His light into someone else’s messy this season.
Blessings,
Julie
The previous Rediscovering Christmas posts can be found here.
Julie, this whole series has been wonderful. And so very needed, especially this year. It’s our grandson’s first Christmas and so I wanted it to be special. I threw up decorations all over the house, unlike anything since my kids were little. I had the whole family celebration planned in detail. But God wants our Christmas to be different. Instead of celebrating at our place, we’ll be gathering together in a hospital room. My sweet father-in-law is struggling to recover from a heart attack two weeks ago and much too weak to go home. But we will gather and be together–the whole family. And Christ will be right there in the center of it all. Instead of our comfortable, festive home, we’ll celebrate in a plain, drab room. But what could be more fitting? Instead of being born in a comfortable, pleasant inn, Jesus was born in a dirty old stable. Messy. But sweet and wonderful! Thank you for encouraging us to grasp and celebrate what’s really important about Christmas! Merry Christmas, Julie, to you and your whole family!
Sabra, I am praying for your father-in-law. I appreciate your comparison of the hospital room to where Jesus was born. You are spot on… celebrating what’s really important for Christmas. May this season carry through in all of our hearts in the year to come. Bless you, sweet friend! Much love in the new year.