All's Not Calm, Nothing Feels Right
Ahhh, the Christmas season. The freshness of a new year and a new beginning. The twinkling lights, the carols playing, the excitement of the children, the live nativities. Such beauty and peace … in an ideal world.
I don’t know about you, but my reality is a smidge … different. With chronic illness my world is a delicate balancing act even during monotonous seasons, but the holidays bring children on sugar highs, remembering forgotten presents at the last minute, extra trips to the grocery store which involve fighting crowds while dizzy and off balance, stressing about going over budget. So many, many, many obnoxious details to keep track of.
Oh crud! The stockings!!!
This Christmas we had good times with family, but also faced some extreme stressors. Stressors which made me feel a bit Grinchy. Nothing was calm and nothing felt right. I certainly didn’t experience the wonder of Christmas like I did when I was a kid.
Do you ever feel guilty about how chaotic and stressful the holidays become? Do you ever just want to throw all the presents and cheery words and music out the window … except for maybe the part about sleeping in heavenly peace? Yes, I will definitely take the heavenly sleep. Santa, please put some of that in my stocking.
Oh, but then you take a moment to relax and you find articles, posts and poems all reminding you Jesus is the reason for the season.
Thanks. That’s helpful.
Well-meaning people write to encourage you that you can forget about all the details and just focus on the Christ child.
Really?! I can wrap myself in a bubble and ignore my kids and their needs and the food I’m supposed to prepare for the family coming into town who I want to see and spend time with? I can become immune to my chronic illness and you can become immune to the trials you are facing? (Because we are ALL dealing with SOMETHING.) All crises and emergencies can be put on pause for an entire month?!
Yes, I get it. We don’t have to overdo Christmas or New Year’s. We actually give our kids very few gifts, I don’t bake a single stinking, adorable Christmas cookie and my extended family gives small presents and donates to charity in each other’s honor instead of giving larger gifts.
But I don’t care how you choose to do Christmas. The whole point of Christmas is God became Immanuel—God with us. (Matt. 1:23)
There are no qualifiers. There are no ifs. God with us if …. The fact is, God is with us no matter how we celebrate.
God with us in heavenly peace, or in arguing, screaming children tripping over wrapping paper, ribbons and scissors on the floor.
God with us while putting sprinkles on perfectly shaped snowman and Santa sugar cookies, or while performing in a live nativity.
God with us if the expression on your face resembles the excitement of Will Ferrell on Elf, or if you feel more like the Grinch and just wish the Whos down in Whoville would shut the heck up.
God with us if your lips proclaim ceaseless praises to the newborn king or if you are more likely to bust out a Clark Griswold style monologue about what Santa will find when he squeezes himself down the chimney.
God with us if you are the Pinterest perfect energizer bunny mama who continuously hums Oh Holy Night while decorating differently themed trees in every room, or if you are the ill mama, barely holding it together, and the only Christmas tune running through your head is the line, “And mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again.”
God with us if you set lofty New Year’s Resolutions for self-improvement and the betterment of the world around you, or if you don’t have the energy to remember this is the time of year for making resolutions.
The only difference is sometimes our attitude can prevent us from recognizing how close He is. But we all have the same opportunity to turn and look at Him any moment we choose because regardless of what we are doing, He is with us.
Some might say God would rather you feel at peace than stressed, but I’m not even sure about that. When I’ve got my crud together, I tend to rock along feeling pretty good about myself and I don’t think about God nearly as much. (At least that’s what happened that one time I had my crud together.) But when I’m frazzled and can’t seem to manage the load before me? That is when my sinful nature really shows itself, and I recognize just how much I need God. And not in an I’m-so-awful-I-hate-myself kind of way, but in a what-an-amazing-God-He-must-be-to-come-to-this-earth-for-me kind of way.
He is with me in either scenario, the difference lies in whether or not I recognize He is there.
He knew how messed up we would be. He knew even in an attempt to celebrate His birth, we would screw it up royally. He also knew those who don’t screw it up royally would judge those who do, and therefore mess it up for themselves as well. He didn’t look down and say, “I will come to be with you if you do this thing correctly.” He said, “I love your messed-up, judging, stressed-out, screwing-it-up self so much that I want to be with you.”
God with us.
Yes, Christ is the reason for the season, but He is the reason because He came. He isn’t the reason if you celebrate correctly. He isn’t God with us only if we feel all is calm, all is bright and have the ability to sleep in heavenly peace.
He is THE reason. Period.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t try to improve yourself or you should settle for less than you are capable of. What I am saying is God is with us. And when you are with Him, His voice will direct changes if and when they are needed. Make sure it is Him you are listening to—not the latest mama fad.
Don’t guilt yourself into thinking you need to add to THE reason or you failed this Christmas because you didn’t go over the reasons for advent with your kids each day of December.
God with us.
In the beauty.
In the chaos.
In the pain.
In our guilt and in our pride.
God with our children.
Whether all they thought about was presents or whether they grasped THE reason.
Whether they got along like the little angels above the nativity or whether they seemed better suited for a Halloween motif.
He is with them regardless.
So, everyone take a deep breath as the New Year approaches. God is with the Elves among us and He is with the Grinches.
He is with those whose seasons went smoothly and those who faced crisis after crisis.
You do your best … not someone else’s. He came to be with you because He uniquely made you to be who you are in Him. He came to be with you because of who He is. And because of who He is, we have every reason to relax into His ultimate present—His presence. God with us.
And unlike Clark Griswold’s jelly of the month club, His presence truly is the gift that keeps on giving—every moment of 2019 and beyond.