Question for you.
With the Christmas season exploding all around us, how many of you have the following types of thoughts going through your head (or more honestly, your heart): This is going to be the best Christmas ever!!… I want everything in the house to be decorated just perfect… I’m going to have my shopping done early so I can do “fun holiday things” like bake cookies and watch Christmas movies with the family… this year’s party is going to be the best ever… there just HAS to be a fluffy white snowfall on Christmas Eve/Day or it won’t feel the same… ect., ect., ect.
I am a sucker for the holidays. I LOVE them. But I head into each Christmas season like this…. how about you?? I think it’s pretty typical for us to hope for - even crave - that Norman Rockwell type Christmas. That moment when someone raises their glass in love and exclaims jubilantly “God Bless Us Every One!!”. Yet somehow, it always falls a little short of “perfect”, doesn’t it. For as fun and festive a time as the holidays ARE, how many of you end the holiday season disappointed in yourself that you didn’t quite get everything done the way you had hoped… or end up just wanting to “get through it” at some point. And quite possibly, how many of you have been disappointed so many times in past years that you don’t even look forward to the holidays at all??
Ever think of why that is?? I’ve read this explanation that makes perfect sense to me. It wasn’t specifically for holidays, but it makes sense for a lot of those longings we have inside. The holes in our hearts that are never quite filled - the cravings that are never quite satisfied. The unsettledness we feel. The explanation is this:
We were created…. for EDEN.
Remember how the story goes?? Male and female He created them… on the 6th day… and placed them in the Garden. The fall of man (and woman) came AFTER that. We were created for that perfect setting… a perfect world… and perfect relationships. THEN evil set in.
I think the way holidays are advertised, they feed on that deep-seeded place inside us that LONGS for that Norman Rockwell setting. They market their products by tapping into that part of our hearts that craves those type of moments. It may very well be that when our hearts swoon over “Oh there’s no place like home for the holidays”, it's actually a deep longing for our original home… Eden… the one we were created for… that’s behind it all.
As we head into the holiday season this year, let’s be consciously aware of why we may crave that feeling. Know that you were created for it. Isn’t that a beautiful thought?? Just don’t look for any earthly relationship… or holiday... to fulfill it.
For now, go ahead and deck your halls!! sing some carols!! bake those cookies!! (IF you have time). Hum along to the carols as you shop for that special gift. But be okay with letting the holiday be imperfect. Take the pressure off it so we can focus on what it was meant to be. A time to celebrate the birth of our Savior with family and friends… with strangers… with those in need. How can we ever be disappointed in that??
Instead of fretting, find a bit of charm in the imperfections this year. Smile at them inside because you know the best is yet to come!!!
Truly come “home” for the holidays…. and let Jesus fill the longings in your heart.
Thank you God, I love you too.
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