Christmas Perfection???
It's beginning to
look a lot like Christmas, well, you know:
Christmas boxes
E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E, cookies baking, decorations on the mantel, stockings hung
to perfection, Christmas movie on and everyone smiling while taking in the
Christmas spirit; not exactly.
More like: BAH-HUMBUG!
Now, don't get me
wrong, the above description is everything I love about Christmas and what I
somehow really envisioned as we so effortless pulled the boxes out of the
attic. The problem with my Christmas fairy tale was no one in my family got the
memo; NO ONE!
The boxes were
exploding at the seams and bursting chaos into my house. Slowly, things began
to make it from the box and into the proper holiday spot. The tree was picked
out and eventually the decorating began. I wrapped the tree tightly, in what
seemed like an extra long process this year, of lights and called the family in
to help with the decorating.
And....I
waited.....and waited.
A few sweet souls
hung a few ornaments until that turned into War World Three. We were fighting
over who was hanging whose ornament and where they put it.
I was chasing
another one outside that had NO desire to help at all!
HANG -IT-HERE!!!!
Really?!?! I guess me yelling kind of fueled the fire. What was I thinking; well,
I wasn't.
As the day went on
nothing went right. I broke too many ornaments to count.
We attempted to
all watch a movie until they ALL dispersed into the unknown like someone caught
their pants on fire.
I guess at that
point it was safe to say that my perfect holiday spirit was GONE! I was so mad
and upset that no one was helping me get into the Christmas cheer.
I had memories of
being a little girl and decorating with my mom and making cookies at Christmas
time and how perfect it all was, and yet I began to realize that my memories
may not be so exact.
Yes, we did all
those things, but I am sure there was arguing and it was not always perfect,
but it was so much more that made me remember it that way.
My husband ask me
why I was so upset, was I expecting perfection?
"Of course
not," was my first thought, and
then I realized that was exactly what I wanted. I had this idea of what the
Christmas season should look like and how it should feel and I was completely
let down when my family did not meet my unbelievably unreal expectations.
The truth is, no
holiday and no family is ever perfect. The reason my memories are so great is
because it was not about the decorating itself but about being together and the
memories we made in our home around Christmas that mattered the most.
My kids are
getting older and may or may not always what to help "deck the
halls", but that does not mean we cannot enjoy what Christmas is all
about.
As I looked around
at my house and the pictures of all the hard work, none of it mattered as much
as one single picture. One picture really got my attention.
It was a picture
taken from a program our church presented about what Christmas is all about. Jesus
Christ and the story of His life. It reminded me that without Him, I have nothing
and I am nothing.
Without Him, I
have no family to cherish this special time of year where we can celebrate His
birth.
We so often get
wrapped up in the "feeling" of Christmas cheer that we forget to
search deep within our hearts for the only true gift ever given.
Give and
celebrate. Deck the halls and love like never before, but do it because God
first loved you. Give because He gave the only gift that never stops giving.
The truth is, I
have always loved the innocence of little kids at Christmas time, but the
reality is that my kids are no little anymore and the innocence is fading
faster than I can blink.
The problem was
that my reality of what perfection is had become slightly obscured.
Perfection is the
mess we make while making cookies. The lessons learned and teachable moments. The
memories made through the good and bad.
Perfection is a
tiny baby wrapped in cloth and laying in a manger. He was sent to give us the
moments to be Christ in the flesh to those who only see the chaos in Christmas,
Because of Him, it
truly is a perfect Christmas.
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Luke 2:14
