‘‘Twas the week before Christmas and all through the place
There was barely a thing in its proper space.
A green dress was hung on a chair without care
Put with the dirty laundry without being worn. Not fair.
Visions of a perfect Christmas danced in my head
But life would dole out messy instead
It’s laundry day. And Christmas concert day. It’s Monday (which is always double duty day...recovering from the weekend and wishful effort in getting a leg up on the week).
I made the kids clean their rooms extra good on Saturday. That always means that dirty drink ware will appear in the kitchen even though they’re not supposed to have drinks in their room. It also means that I’ll have three times the laundry to wash today (I’ll be surprised if there’s not a swimsuit in the dirty clothes pile). I cant adequately slay today. And I can't, no matter my effort, perfectly pull off Christmas.
Here's my Christmas List-
I just want
- For the family to be together
- To have everybody healthy
- For everyone to be happy
- For everyone to love their gifts
- For the presents to wrap themselves
- To make Christmas snacks
- For my house to be clean
- For my family to enjoy my Christmas Pandora station when I play it full blast
- Unlimited funds
- To not forget anyone when wishing loved ones a Merry Christmas
- For those who have suffered this year to be able to enjoy Christmas
- For everyone to know (and believe) why Jesus came so long ago as a babe in a manger
- To watch the Hallmark channel
- For life to be like the Hallmark channel
Is that too much to ask?
Absolutely.
There's not a single bullet point that will be pulled-off perfectly.
The Christmas story tells of a family (Mary and Joseph), who by all human appearances, are messy. Their story is fraught with imperfection. They're outside the comfort of home suffering the pain of labor and facing the unknown... with no place to rest their heads (except for with the animals).
Christmas is messy.
It's caught up in humanity until we realize that our messy setting is the perfect backdrop for the revelation of perfection. Holiness ... within our grasp, in the face of our NOT getting it right. We only truly celebrate Christmas when we worship Jesus, who came to do what we can't.
"Do we remember
The wonders of his love
Will our voices join with the chorus up above
Do we remember how on the silent night
There was a baby who came to recall us back to life"
-The Perfect Gift JJ Heller