Christmas Answers All Our Why's with One Who

Plus a Few Links for Some Good Reading

Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent, when some light a “Candle of Peace.” I haven’t written as much as normal this Advent season because I’ve been working on another project, but I have a few meandering thoughts about getting ready for Christmas and the real nativity.

I’ve also read some great articles I’d like to share with you, and I especially want to welcome the new subscribers. I’m glad you’re here.

A slow and quiet Christmas…

We’re a few days away from the Big Day.

Perhaps you’re running to and fro, making a list and checking it twice, because there’s still so much to do. Or perhaps you’re settled and ready, with packages neatly wrapped and placed beneath a shimmering tree.

Some years I start early. The lights and decorations are up before the last piece of pumpkin pie from Thanksgiving can be downed. Other years I tinker a bit, setting out a little bit more each day.

This year I moved slowly.

The hubs brought out the boxes and set up the pre-lit trees. (We finally went with the fake kind because they come in pieces, which makes them easier on middle-aged backs.) But then the fake trees just sat there. For a full week. One in our living room. Another in my office. Lights on, but nothing else. And truth be told, I liked it. Simple and bright. Which is why I smiled when I read this piece by

John Blase

. I could relate.

But once the kids were on their way home from college, I managed to get the last ornament hung before they arrived. I wanted everything festive and ready when they walked through the door.

Then, after the decorations, there was the matter of the unsent cards.

Some years I get a Christmas letter written and printed before the end of October, complete with Christmasy letterhead. Other years I’m a week away from the Big Day, and I still don’t have the cards ready. And just to be clear, I’m talking about regular store-bought cards, not professional photoshoots with the whole family walking through a wooded forest while holding hands. Which is why I appreciated these words by

Shannon Hood

.

Maybe I’ll get to the cards. Maybe I won’t. Either way, it’ll be okay. Because I’m intent on having a slow and quiet Christmas.

The real nativity…

Early in our marriage, Jeff gave me a unique nativity set every year for Christmas. So, every December I set aside an afternoon to unbox the figurines. As I unwrap each piece from its tissue, I think about each person in the Story.

You’ll notice that Joseph isn’t given a single word in all of Scripture, yet he had such an important weight to carry, caring for the Infant God and the young woman who carried undeserved shame. Joseph never wrote a book and he likely never stood on a big stage, yet he quietly served and obeyed. We can learn a lot from Joseph.

The wise men, of course, didn’t arrive for another two years, but it’s still a good reminder that we are wise to make an effort to see the King — and we can do this through time in God’s Word (Psalm 119:18, Jeremiah 29:13).

Then there were the angels rejoicing.

The shepherds rushing to see the new Baby.

And Mary taking it all in.

Like the participants in the First Noel, the Christmas season is different for all of us.

For some of us, the Christmas season may be a time when we relate more to the shepherds who happily ran to see a Baby in a manger after angels lit up the night sky with songs about good tidings and great joy. For others of us, the Christmas season may be a time when we relate more to the mothers of Bethlehem, weeping over the loss of their dear sons.

These precious moms are never featured in any nativity scene. But they’re there, in the Bible (Matthew 2:7-18). Their pain, horrific and real. Which is why I appreciated these tender words by

GeorgeAnn

.

When pain is pervasive, we sometimes can’t help but ask Why, Lord? and we may even wonder how our specific circumstances could possibly “work together for good” someday (Romans 8:28).

There was a season in my life when I had a long list of Why? questions, and I used to think that, when I get to heaven, I’m going to ask God all my questions.

I know God is okay with our honest questions (Habakkuk shows us that), but the more I read the Bible, the more I begin to think that once I’m face-to-face with Jesus, all my earthly Why’s? will be replaced by the wonderful presence of the Who.

The world can be especially loud this time of year, with its unspoken pressure to make sure our Christmas is magical and Instagram-worthy. But that’s not realistic. It’s not even biblical.

The real Christmas Story is not about the trees or the decorations or the cards or the Insta-perfect family photo.

It’s about Light coming to pierce the darkness. It’s about the incarnate God who chose to come in poverty, not pedigree. And it’s a recognition that the Child would become a Man of Sorrows, acquainted with much grief (Isaiah 53:3). Which is why I wrote about the real Light of Christmas and shared it on Ann Voskamp’s blog a couple of Christmases ago.

Christmas answers all our Why’s? with one Who.

Perhaps for you some years have been full of Christmas cheer, happily hanging the mistletoe. And perhaps other years have been a struggle to find joy in the midst of unrelenting sorrow.

I get it.

Wherever you are today, it’s important to know that it’s okay to be where you are.

It’s also important to know that whatever today holds, a new day is coming. Because Christmas is more than a Gift under a star; Christmas is also a promise — a promise that one day Christ will come again and make all things right, all things new, and all things whole.

Right now, my kids are home for holidays, so I’m cooking for five again — setting the table and lighting the candles and savoring their presence. They’re big kids now. Adults really. So, we’re all just hanging out. We’ve gone to the movies together, and we’ve played Settlers of Catan almost every night. (Seriously, it’s my favorite game ever.)

I’m enjoying the slow and quiet pace of life with college-age kids. It’s their Winter Break. And mine too.

My prayer is that you experience Christ’s peace this Christmas season.

Shalom.

Denise

P.S. I’ve shared this before, but this song is still my favorite version of my favorite Christmas hymn. And it’s possible I’ve been spotted driving down a Carolina country road with one hand raised while singing this song out loud in my car. :-)

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Some more good links for quiet reading…

• “When You Can’t Keep the Feast” by

  Anne Kennedy

• “Advent, Week 3” by

  Jen Pollock Michel

• “On Fear and Dread and How They Serve Us” by

  Sara Hagerty

• “Peace” by

  Linda Hoye

And here are the links again to the articles I mentioned above…

• “An Advent Response” by

  John Blase

• “Should You Send a Christmas Card This Year?” by

  Shannon Hood

• “Grief, Grace, and Christmas Memories” by

  GeorgeAnn

• “Finding Sanctuary in the Light” at Ann Voskamp’s blog