The morning after Christmas.
And, I’m curious. What is it for you? Perhaps a little sad it's over? Perhaps an incredibly full heart and a (still) too-full belly? Perhaps a house in disarray and a dishwasher to be emptied (for the 79th time)? Perhaps some presents and piles to be put away?
Perhaps, though, it's a sense of relief. The long-awaited day is over. And we can breath again.
If so, I get that. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been a busy Merry-Christmas-conducting-mother for so many years, but there’s so much build up to the big 25th day. So much expectation from others and, I suppose, mostly, from ourselves. Like a great prom for parents. Will everything be perfect? Will all go as planned? Did we remember every single person? Wrap all the gifts? Get every ingredient at the grocery store (that’s the one that never fails to get me each year! Ugh). Will we all get along? Will there really be joy to the world if the roast is too rare or the rolls burn or the dog eats the dessert or the Christmas tree falls over or the gift is all wrong or Aunt Bethany recites the Pledge of Allegiance as the blessing before dinner. (Plug for the iconic Christmas Vacation movie which we watch every year and probably enjoy so much because everything really does go wrong for the Griswolds and yet they push on to triumph as a family in the end. Classic)!
You know what I’m saying: there’s always something. Always something which goes off the rails or goes completely awry. Always something which can’t help but disappoint a hope or dissolve someone into a few tears. Always something which wasn't part of the plan and certainly wasn't anywhere close to our idea of perfect.
But, sometimes, it’s the bigger things.The harder things. Relationships gone wrong. Someone mad. Someone missing. Someone sorely missed. Someone sick. Something sad just under the surface which can be no longer ignored. Broken ornaments are one thing, broken people, another.
I don’t have the answer, but I just know that all the holiday hoopla, the Hallmark movies and the social media posts have a way of making everything appear to be perfect and somehow perfectly attainable (for others) and there’s pressure in that for all of us. We can’t help but feel it. Even when we pretend we aren’t vulnerable to it, it is wired into the very Christmas fabric of our human holiday natures. We are prey to it in some insidious way.
Even when we know there’s really no such thing as perfect. Forget the Norman Rockwell paintings, everyone has their own warts and specific wantings and the build up to big moments like Christmas can bring them out in all their unwanted glory.
Yeah, I guess a lot of us work hard in our homes to have “It’s A Wonderful Life.” Maybe, sometimes, too hard. There's some undeniable issues with that desire too. It’s this balance of making things memorable and merry and bright, but also keeping thing real and right. I'm not sure I always handle that well. I remember when the kids were little I had this idea we were all supposed to be well dressed for Christmas dinner. I don’t know what the heck was wrong with me. I guess I saw it in a movie somewhere that the children would wear green velvet or something. Don’t get me wrong, y’all know I like to make things pretty, but those green velvet days are long gone. Last night, exactly 3 minutes before we were ready to sit down to dinner, Bella was still in her PJs and asked me if she should go change her clothes for dinner. I was hot in the middle of burning the gravy and my loving response was “I don’t care, but if you decide to change, you have exactly 1 minute to get dressed, missy.” I chose to wear leggings (with a gravy stain) and tennis shoes and the rest of the crew were pretty much in some form of loungewear … some of it matching, some of it looking pretty rough. So be it, right? I am pretty sure there have been Christmas Days where I didn’t remember to brush my own teeth and I’m completely positive the kids failed to do so most Christmases. No lie.
But clothing, jello salad and clean teeth aside, Christmas can bring with it some pressure. Each year, I try hard to keep myself centered on the true reason for the season. I try hard to keep at bay the trimmings and trappings and instead embrace the celebration of the Christ child. But there’s even pressure in that, isn’t there?
I find myself worrying if—as a family—we are too focused on the festivities and not celebrating faithfully enough the birth of our Savior. What’s the line? Where's the balance? Is there even the right ratio of time and dollars and energy spent? Has anyone 100% figured this out?
I don’t have that answer either. But I think it is important to acknowledge that the ENTIRE point of Christmas is ENTIRELY about all of our inabilities, our incompetencies, our inadequacies, and our much despised insecurities. Should we even wonder when things go wrong? Aren’t they just further reminders of why we are all so in need of a Savior?
“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” Matthew 1:22-23
God With Us.
Come to earth as a babe in Bethlehem For Us. For our messy, messed up, not always so merry selves.
Come. That we might have HOPE.
Come. That we might have LIGHT.
Come. That we might have LIFE.
Come because He loves us. “For God so loved the world that He GAVE his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Come because He is For Us.
“If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but GAVE Him up for us all — how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” Romans 8:31-32
Are you reading the real message in all these verses? God GAVE us a GIFT. The only One which really matters. He gave Him to the manger in Bethlehem and gave Him up on the cross at Golgotha. For us. For you and for me.
Our Perfect Savior has COME for all of our imperfections.
Today. This day after Christmas, whether you are sad it’s all over or breathing a big sigh of relief that you made it … Either way, let’s not miss the message in the mess.
We don’t need perfect holidays when we have the Prince of Peace in our every days.
Jesus was born for us.
Jesus is here with us.
Jesus is always, always for us.
Emmanuel. God With Us.