Noel Never Hurt Anyone

“Wow, that’s really clever.  Seriously smart.”  I stopped suddenly to admire a display and my youngest was almost jerked off her feet.  I looked over in time to see her attempting to relocate her shoulder.  “Ow! What is clever?  That?  What is it? It’s weird!”  She too, paused and moved out of the way of the passengers making their way to the cafeteria.  “This is clever, this….this….seasonal display.”  I waved my hand at it in an attempt to pull words out of the air. I’m not exactly sure I would call it that.  It is pretty, but it isn’t anything.” She retorted.  “Exactly!” I shouted.  “That’s why it is so smart!  It says celebration but wipes the entire Christ out of Christmas.  Look at it!  There is no star, no sheep, no shepherd, nothing spiritual to muddy the waters or offend anyone.  It’s a masterpiece!”  I was impressed and enthusiastic.  My children were uninspired and hungry.  “Mum, it’s great really but can we go get dinner now?  We are super hungry.”  My oldest grabbed my free hand and tugged me down the deck.  “Coming.” I grumped, cross at being dragged away.  “But we are going to talk about that “seasonal piece of festivus” later!  It’s brilliant.”

My country can do politically correct like no one else.  Seeing the anti-Christmas-tree-dress-non-decoration proved it.  I have been thinking about that blasted tree dress since I saw it in mid-December. Thinking about why we want to keep the celebration but not the person behind it, thinking about what Christmas would be like without Jesus and thinking about how glad I am that I celebrate the birth of the Messiah each December.  Without Jesus at the center of the holiday, I'm not sure I would live through the celebration.

I have had a few lengthy phone calls with family and friends since the 24^th of December.  They have included words phrases such as: basement flooding, 2 inches across the whole room, she is vomiting but has no fever, unexpected drive that will take 6 hours, (and the ever popular), how do I know when it’s done?  Friends, might I remind you holidays are not for cowards.  They are forged out of the blood, sweat and tears of family and friends.  They are birthed painfully and anyone who tells you otherwise got to the punch bowl before you.

So dear heart, let me take a moment, now that you have made it through the 25^th, to wish you joy this coming year. I pray that it brings you blessing.  May the peace Jesus offers flood your mind as you ring in 2016.  May you know the forgiveness, restoration and future hope He alone can provide.

I am praying for you this week,

xoxKaren

PS.  Blue and black people, blue and black.

Lack and Longing

Dear Friend!

I am posting mid week because my friends make me happy.  This post is originally from 2015.  I do pray you will get to a service this weekend.  Thinking of you this weekend.  Drive safely.  Be kind.  Share your cookies.

xoxK

Delivery!

“I have to drop my son off first, I’ll bring her by around six.  Maybe I can pull it together and bring dessert.”  
“No worry.  We have more than enough food.  See what your time allows.”  With that, I hung up the phone, feeling pleased with myself.  Some people find life easy to organize.  I don’t.  Any plan that I manage to pull together feels like a major victory.  I had just created an impromptu hang out time for three teenagers on a Friday evening without needing to drive.  I was impressed with myself.  I set myself to food preparation and scanned the living room.  “Girls, time to tidy up!”

I turned on the Christmas music as the girls started cleaning.  There was a knock on the door half an hour later and my girlfriend flounced into the  living room.  “Hello! We’re here,” she announced needlessly.  “You are,” I agreed.  Her arms were full and she started to place plastic cups on my table.  “Ta da,” she sang merrily.   “I made you all dessert.  Well, I tried to make you dessert.  I thought I had two pudding mixes, but it turns out I only had one.  So the girls can each have a taste, unless you have pudding.  If you have pudding, you can add more!  I’m sorry, I should have checked my pantry before I started!”  I giggled.  If anyone in my life was going to show up with an unfinished dessert, it was her.  “And the empty cups?” I inquired, knowing exactly what the answer would be.  “I was making dessert for everyone!” She repeated herself slowly, as though I were daft.  “Those are for you and your husband.  Do you have anything that can go in there?”

Moments like these, provided by friends and family make me insanely happy. This friend in particular, has a knack for doing the unexpected.  God alone knows how we have maintained our friendship over the past decade.  We communicate differently.  I could tell you that I am an auditory learner and she is visual, but the truth of the matter is I am sensible and she is a lunatic.  Misunderstanding stalks us.  We are constantly skirting disaster.  She once called me to request I pick up her daughter and then looked at me quizzically an hour later when I arrived to get her.    

The fact that she presented me with an unfinished dessert wasn’t offensive in the least.  It was a delightful gesture filled with good intent and insanity, exactly what I expect from her.   Friends aren’t bothered by lack of perfection, they are able to see the heart behind the finished product regardless of the outcome.  I find such grace a wonderful part of the Christmas season.  

Perfection is defined as the condition, state, or quality of being free or as free as possible from all flaws or defects.   Christmas is the time when the standard of perfection is raised over friends, family and finances.  For one month, any imperfection is viewed as damaging a holiday which needs to be free from all forms of stress and strife.  Real life could not be farther from the truth.

Christmas outstrips the resources of many.  The ability to buy fabulous gifts, interact without strife and maintain a positive outlook is possessed by few, especially during the holiday season.  Real life has a way of upending good intentions.  When delusions of Christmas grandeur threaten to upset your peace of mind, it is worth taking a stroll through the story of the nativity.

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

   “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.  And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.  But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Luke2:1-21

Suspend if you can, the perfect Christmas and reflect on scripture for a moment.  A young woman, pregnant outside of marriage.  A young couple, with no family members willing to share accommodations.  A baby born in the presence of animal dung.  A new mother with no one to tell her that her baby is beautiful.  No soft cotton outfit to put on the newborn.  A shady bunch of farm hands showing up out of nowhere and no cheese plate to share.   Nothing about this picture meets the criteria for social etiquette. Not a lot about the setting says celebration.  

Heaven however, finds the event glorious.  

Perhaps dear friend, you find yourself outstripped by Christmas this year.  If you are feeling the lack, the longing and the lacerations inflicted by life, could I invite you to take a look into the stable where our Savior was born?  I want to remind you of a simple truth: Jesus did not condescend to come to earth so that you might have a merry Christmas.  He didn’t come for the tree, the lights or the gifts.  He came to bring you hope.

Jesus came, so that you might experience forgiveness when you are rightly accused.  When you are unable to bear one more minute, He came so that He could help you endure.  If you are faced with the inability to cope, he came so that He could get you to the other side of your circumstance.  He came, so that when this world wraps up like a gift, He can right the wrongs and bring the perfect peace and justice you long for.

So dear friend, I wish you peace in the darkness this advent season.  That you might have the eyes to see heavens’ joy.  The heart to hold on to the hope He offers and the grace to sing no matter where this season finds you.

I am thinking of you this week,

xoxKaren