We all have the hope of what the Christmas season will look like, and yet it doesn’t often fulfill what our minds pictured and what our hearts long for. We envision the perfect decorations, health for our family, grateful kids, peace and calm, and family time where everyone comes together despite differences. What we are often reminded of is the brokenness of our world, the pain that relationships have caused, the unfulfilled expectations and the hope of something more.
Holidays for parents of young children are often exhausting and overstimulating. The chaos of the day tends to be what most days already are like. When the whirlwind of the weeks of preparation are over and the day finally arrives, I often stop and wonder if I missed it. I can always sense a tinge of disappointment by the end of it all. My expectations weren’t met in one way or another, and all of a sudden, it’s over. Did I miss the point? Did I forget why we celebrate in the first place? WHO we celebrate? Did I place too much emphasis on my expectations of it all?
This year, when I begin to sense unmet expectations, I’m going to think back on that first Christmas. I wonder what Mary’s expectations were of what it would be like to carry and birth the Son of God. I doubt it was anything she thought it would be. Our Savior didn’t come into the world in the way anyone expected. He came as a baby, and he was born of a virgin in a stable. He wasn’t born in a palace where a king was expected to be born, in fact, the king at the time sought to kill baby Jesus. He didn’t come into our world to be served, He came to serve and to seek those who are lost. He didn’t come to spend time with the righteous, but the sinners. The life He lived on earth wasn’t what anyone expected of the Savior of our world. That’s the beauty of it though, isn’t it? He showed up in our mess and He still does every day and every Christmas.
When we focus on Him, the One whom it’s truly all about, we realize that it doesn’t have to be perfect; in fact, it won’t be. Let us think instead of the Perfect One who was born in those imperfect and unexpected circumstances. Let us remember that He entered into our world out of pure love and chose to step into the mess with us, so that we may know Him and have a personal encounter with Him.
As we remember the real reason for the season, may we let go of the expectations and allow our hearts be set on our Perfect Savior’s entrance into our imperfect world.
Merry Christmas!
xo, Kristen
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