I'm sitting here reflecting on this wonderful, memorable Christmas we just enjoyed. Its been a holiday I'll not soon forget. I enjoy the whole Christmas season, which for me begins on December 1, and runs until New Years day. And its been quite a month- unseasonably cold for the deep South, lots of sickness going around, and I've been sick about half the month myself! In fact, I was pretty miserable in the two weeks leading up to Christmas Eve, with flu, sinus infection, and bronchitis symptoms all rolled together. Yuck. Then after a fever-filled night, I began to mend by the Eve, finally. It all left me pretty exhausted, in an already hectic, exhausting season.
Driving to the church early to help get ready for the Christmas Eve service, I was about to ask God, "I really need something to get me back in the Christmas spirit, Father," when He stopped my thoughts mid-sentence, speaking into my heart, "Its not about you, and working up some feeling. Its about My Son, and your worship of Him. Just choose to worship." I smiled, and I did, all the way there. I sang Christmas carols while driving, specifically "Come & worship, come & worship, worship Christ the newborn King" among others. And I worshipped all through the service, focusing on Christ, not looking for a feeling for me. But the feelings came anyway, in the form of a deep, satisfying joy.
This joy has sustained me all through the wonderful weekend! We joined up with some old friends out in Athens for a midnight candlelight service at their church, then home for Christmas with just the four of us. Christmas morning brought gift-unwrapping, Christmas music, smiles, laughter, and packing up for the trip to Christmas with Lisa's side of the family.
While down in Fayette with the Brown family, something happened that has not occurred in Georgia in about 119 years- snow on Christmas Day! It snowed all afternoon, on into the night, leaving 1-2 inches of white on everything. It was the most amazing sight for Christmas we had ever seen. Finally, all the "Winter Wonderland", "White Christmas" and other songs, we could sing down here in the heart of Georgia! Even today, there is still snow everywhere, 2 days after Christmas.
There's been a fair amount of adversity this Christmas, with my illness, then Ansley was sick, then we had issues with some gifts that didn't work right, a ticket while driving to Athens, to name a few. But really, these didn't affect the joy of Christmas, for me or my family members. We had plenty to laugh about, to enjoy, to worship and be thankful for. In the midst of the chaos and rush of the season, the heart of Christmas remains-
"God, who knows no before or after, entered time and space. God, who knows no boundaries, took on the shocking confines of a baby's skin, the ominous restraints of mortality... Little wonder a choir of angels broke out in spontaneous song, disturbing not only a few shepherds but the entire universe." -Philip Yancey, "The God I Never Knew", p.45.
God bless Christmas.