I've been a little more amped up than usual this season when it comes to decorating. Describing my feelings concerning giving my house "the holiday feels", I can almost say I've been...excited, so excited that I decorated the dining room we never use. 

  I purchased the pictured black-and-white squared placemats for three dollars a pop from that magnetic section of Target so many of us love; the dollar section (a misnomer if you ask me-the stuff I like is always three bucks). 

I like black and white; together they're a sort of "it is what it is" declaration. And the squares?  There's something comforting about squares. The lines go where they're supposed to. Black and white squares are not so much like complicated life with its delicate shades of gray mixed with brightly hued zigzags. 

Right down the center of one of these placemats is real life imagery, hidden. Its lines are all caddy-wonked; a rather defected decoration. 

That didn't stop me from putting it out on the table. 

It's not obvious, but the stitching is anything but neat. It's covered up by a dinner plate which is really quite a farce too, being that I haven't cooked a decent meal since last Thursday. 

My table isn't made pretty because life is always pretty at the Burden house. It isn't pretty as if to say the holiday proclaims order. Truth be known, our Christmas season is better described as chaos. 

I want my table to look pretty because of what the table means to me. This table represents meals where conversation has been had and is hoped to be had for years to come. The conversation isn't always agreeable or at a pleasing decibel. But I'm happy for those times we circle up and share with each other. 

Admittedly, none of our decorations are typical of ordinary days. 

Christmas is time for the extraordinary. 

The festive wreath and candles symbolize the celebration of a Savior whose humble and holy existence on earth far eclipses any attempt of ours at goodness or beauty. No matter how ornamental and bright-shining we may be as his children, we know our light is one that has been given to us. Any beauty and brightness we bear has been granted, not created by our own craftiness or brilliance. 

Christmas isn't an "it is what it is" kind of season. Christmas is a season that foretells a time when the lines will be drawn in the right places even if they're zig-zagged now. 

It's a season of hope where that which isn't neat, and that which is broken is placed in the background, in some less significant place.

It's a time when we attempt to set our sights on God's gifts and His promises versus our circumstances. 

The same can be said concerning Christmas pictures. The window in our living room facing the street is dipped in layers of twine  with clothespins; some decorated like plaid reindeer. Christmas cards and pictures of beautiful families, dressed in their best, are hung here with adoration. 

I'm not foolish enough to think that those pictures speak truth. They're not composed of everyday reality. I know those smiling faces more than likely weren't captured with one shot.  I remember a number of times where tears were shed during our annual photo shoots. Last year I forced one family member (between poses) to remove his white socks that had been slipped in the Christmas picture wardrobe I had so carefully laid out. 

Our staging isn't so much a lie as it is the effort-full offering of ourselves (like our Sunday best) in honor of the coming birth of our King. 

 

 
Frenzied decorating and holiday running around is often the antithesis of what Christmas all about. But it often points out the contrast between the results of our grandest efforts and what was accomplished in a lowly stable.   

So if you're up to decorating, decorate to His hearts' delight. Capture that  photo that says you're grateful for your loved ones. Circumstances for some may lead to less decorating and celebrating -and more heart pondering. May we keep those in mind. 

My prayer is that God, in his goodness, will once again point each of us to the truth that was first found in a manger...And that this truth will fill us with love and light...and peace 

And maybe most importantly HOPE ...of a forever that has been stitched together perfectly. 

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