Wednesday, December 18, 2013

The perfect Christmas that doesn't exist...or does it?

That perfect Christmas moment. We see them in our 30 minute TV Shows and our Hallmark Christmas movie specials and we hear it in the songs that fill our ears. It's the Christmas Family Picture where we all smile and laugh. Our clothes are clean AND ironed and we coordinated just the right amount. Christmas Cards are constructed from hand crafted paper, individualized of course, and are mailed out the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Tediously long car rides are filled with caroling, giggling and laughter. The fire is warm and glowing, and we all use our nice hands and our nice words all of of the time. Gifts look like they have been wrapped by Martha Stewart and food tastes like it came from the kitchen of the finest chefs. The house is decorated and everyone loves all of my hand made treats, place cards and this years version of decoupage ornaments on my Christmas tree. Is all of this too much to ask...just one Hallmark Christmas.

Let's be honest, it doesn't exist.

This is what it looks like at the Wilson house. The kids are - well kids. They touch each other. They annoy each other. They look out each others windows. Christmas Cards are sent, and any postmark that ends in 2013 is evidence that the card is not late. The presents are wrapped, most of the time - though it may be masking tape or duct tape that holds the edges together. And truth be told, gift bags may be the smartest invention ever! The tree is just the right mix of ornaments we love and ornaments that toddlers cannot eat, break or harmed by in the event that the ornament is removed from the tree and chewed on, sat on or dropped. All of our tasty Christmas treats come from ... Grandma or the grocery store. Our Christmas morning pictures always make it look like we just woke up! I never use place cards, and sometimes we use paper plates...

And you know what. It's ok. It's not what others may consider perfect, but it is exactly what is suppose to be, at least for now. Kinda like that first Christmas morning. God's people had been waiting for centuries for their savior to arrive - but when it happened they almost missed it completely.

Jesus was born in a barn.
His mother was a teenage girl.
His home town was a "nothing good comes from there" kind of place.
His first guests were smelly, dirty, and common shepherds.

And yet it was exactly what God meant for it to be. And this Christmas can be too. All I need to do is be ready for it. Instead of seeing what it "is not", I will seek God in every moment.

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