Are you ready for Christmas?
Many of us have go-to phrases to make conversation, such as: How about those Cowboys? It sure is cold out today. Read any good books lately? How are your kids/parents? And this time of year, a new one comes into rotation: Are you ready for Christmas?
This was asked of me just this week – 6 days before Christmas Eve. Fortunately for the asker, I was in a healthier head space, because there have been years when this question sends me straight into tears. As a clergy mama, there’s lots of fun and magic to be made for my church family as well as my home family – poinsettias, presents, special worship services, Christmas cards to design, order, and mail, special meals, special music, EIGHT nights of Hannukah presents for the kids, decorating the house, making sure we have reservations to board the dog when we travel to see family, the middle school band Christmas concert, the youth Christmas party – well, I could list more, but I’ll just stop there.
So I confessed to the one asking that I’m not ready. My kids don’t have any presents from their parents under the tree yet. We got lazy for years because grandparents would visit, so we just didn’t buy any – honestly, doesn’t a year’s worth of room, board, and lots of special expenses count as a present? But since the grandparents no longer come to see us, we are trying to make sure there’s some unwrapping to be done.
But even if I don’t get it all done, if the music’s a little flat or if we flat skip night of Hannukah observance because we had taekwondo and Bible study that night, there is this good news – Christmas still comes to all of us.
Deeper, richer, and more wonderful than any of the magic I can create is the abiding love of God. A love so overflowing that God was not content to keep it to God’s self, but chose to move into the neighborhood with us, to take up residence as one of us, to continue to move toward us when we stumble and fall trying to move toward God.
This is why we worship.
So invite a friend or nine to hear this good news on Sunday – CHRISTMAS EVE – at 11am or 7pm. We may run out of time or energy or money, but God’s love comes to us just the same. Glory to God!
I’m praying for you, beloved. I hope you are praying for me. I’ll meet you at the manger on Sunday!
peace,
Pastor Jessica.