By: Rose Jones
With four little girls, I am sure you can imagine the excitement and joy as we watched them open Christmas this year. They each had their own style, their own flare, that they brought to the gift opening. One of our daughters, before the presents were even all opened, was formulating her list for next year. This was even before she opened the two things that she specifically asked for and was most excited about (a Star Wars action figure and a microscope) - she’s our planner. Another daughter, when handed a gift, would open it quickly and before even setting it down, would start looking for her next gift - she’s our high spirited child. The other two were just sugar-loaded, sister- followers, tired yet happy with the change in routine and excitement - they’re only 2 yrs. old so what more can you expect. As enjoyable as the family time was around the tree, this was not the greatest gift this year, but merely a moment on which to cherish, reflect, and ponder in my heart. As a mother pondering, I can reflect on the whole month of December using the example which my angels laid before me on Christmas Eve to find the hidden gifts of the season. These gifts weren’t found under the tree, in a department store, or wrapped in paper and bows. This year Rob and I found the greatest gifts in places we least expected.
Our first daughter, the planner, embodies a skill which is essential to getting all the to-dos of the holiday season accomplished. She sees the next step, the thing ahead, and consequently sometimes misses the present. I have this trait in certain circumstances, which during the Christmas season when the list of to-dos is longer than the days, has the dangerous potential to steal the joy and threaten to take my eyes off the true reasons for the season. Every Christmas we start the month with our annual open house. This involves planning at its best, cookies, appetizers, decorations, and invites all checked off the week after Thanksgiving. Then there is the annual office party, with a new dress, shoes, accessories, etc. All of these things were accomplished within the first 2 weeks of December with very little to no glitches. As I mentioned, planning at its best. But the least expected gift came when I entered the state of panic during the second week, the recognition that Christmas for a family of 6 and not to mention friends and family had not yet been bought, purchased, or even thought about. How would I give the perfect gifts, find time with 4 little ones to shop, see past the remaining list of to-dos? With the encouragement of the still small voice, the echoes of sermons preaching “it’s not your Birthday..”, and a conscious choice to enjoy the rest of December, I found peace. It didn’t come with planning or scheduling. Believe me I have tried to plan peace in years past. Instead, it was a choice to not run out every evening frantically shopping for the best and brightest gift. It was a choice to spend the days with the girls on Christmas crafts, family devotions, holiday movies, and the best of all shopping for an underprivileged family with my neighbor. It was in all these things that I found peace, and by my surprise and not by planning , I still managed to get all the gifts I needed and even wrapped the weekend before Christmas. Even with the best planning in year’s past, I have never finished Christmas preparations with a week to spare. I found peace with the choice to not make Christmas about me and my to-dos but to keep my eyes focused instead on the Prince of Peace, and finding Him in the present of every moment leading up to Christmas. A high-spirit enjoys the moment with great excitement and then quickly hops to the next exciting event, not always pausing to cherish, to appreciate, to show gratitude. Christmas is a high-spirited child's dream, one exciting event after another. One new Christmas treat around every corner. Your calendar can quickly be filled with parties and activities, which are meant to share Christmas spirit, but more often leave us tired and void of joy. After stumbling on peace, as a family we made the choice to deliberately slow down in the weeks leading up to Christmas and through this choice found Joy. Don’t get me wrong, we made the gingerbread houses, had the playdates, ate the cookies, and went to parties. The thing for our family that changed this year is we made the conscious choice to spend the time leading up to Christmas together, not frantically running around in our own directions trying to accomplish the to-dos. We did the to-dos most often as the 6 of us, and even made that time quality time. We went on Christmas light hunts, had family devotions at dinner, played games, laughed, watched Christmas movies, and this year even went caroling with neighbors. We made each moment count. It wasn’t always easy. It wasn’t always the most convenient thing to do. And Rob and I will both confess Christmas excitement with 4 little girls can often try our patience, but we worked hard to choose joy, to find joy in each other, in the to-dos, and most importantly in the Giver of Joy for He is present even in the most hectic moments.
Now looking at the sugar-loaded, followers, who were so tired, yet restless with excitement -haven’t we all been there in the craziness of Christmas? We eat more than we should, we follow the crowds doing all the “shoulds” of Christmas (shopping, parties, perfect decorations, spending, going, spending, going…), we collapse after Christmas completely tired from all the preparations and excitement the holiday brings. I’ve been there. It’s very easy to get caught up in. Even this year after finding peace and joy, I still found myself on Christmas Eve wondering if the gifts I had given were “good enough.” I didn’t let this thought sit as long as I have in year’s past, but I still had it. What is “good enough” on Christmas? Why does it have to be “good enough?” Christmas isn’t about being “good enough.” Christmas is about the humble arriving of a King, who came to save all of us, not the “good enough,” but the created, the sinners, the children of God. We don’t have to be anything more than who we are, we just have to be willing to meet Him in the stable, and as our pastor said this year, make room. He has a gift for us that is greater than anything we can give, earn, or be “good enough” for. Jesus is the only gift “good enough” for Christmas. This year our family found that gift. We went to our Christmas Eve Eve service on Friday night, spent Christmas Eve with family and then opening presents with the girls, and then we woke up Christmas morning and attended church (we would vote to do this every Christmas, not just when on a Sunday). By going to church Christmas morning our eyes were taken off our gifts and turned towards the person who’s birthday we celebrate at Christmas, the greatest gift of all, our Savior, Prince of Peace, Giver of Joy, and reason this Christmas and everyday is filled with gifts, Jesus. It’s only when we make the choice to keep our eyes focused on Jesus that we see them. The gift of Christmas was long-expected, prophesized for hundreds of years, yet the way He came was not expected, a stable, a lowly teenager for a mom, a lonely night. Rob and I expected Christ this season, but the way He touched us was completely unexpected. This December, I think I can speak for Rob and say we both saw the gifts God intended Christmas to be, and for that we are eternally grateful.
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