It seems like for 11 months out of the year, we are so focused and busy on what life is throwing at us. At the beginning of the year, we have bad weather to deal with and new years resolutions to try to keep. I don’t know about you, but at the beginning of every new year, I have a feeling of newness that everything is starting over in some aspects and I get a fresh start, even if it’s halfway through the school year, which dictates a lot of what I do with the youth group. Then spring comes, and with it warmer temperatures. People get their warmer weather clothes out, do spring cleaning, inside and outside their homes, getting everything looking good again after a winter of staying indoors a lot. School is coming to an end so students are getting ready for the summer and families as a whole are probably more focused on summer plans and vacations and trips and the like, and so our lives ease into another busy time of the year, at least for a few months. Then August comes, and school is back in session, and the holidays are on their way, with Halloween, Thanksgiving, and then Christmas. It’s another time of transition as we start to get ready for winter again, raking the leaves that fall, getting used to, or at least trying to get used to 5pm sunsets. I’m not sure I’ll ever be used to that. But then the holidays get here, and once again, it seems that life changes, but it seems to me that it is a different kind of change. While it may be a busier time of life, and I may only be speaking for myself on this, it is also in some ways a more peaceful time of the year. Our perspective finally gets off of our own wants and needs and desires and plans for the year and we take time to not only be thankful for what we have, but then celebrate Jesus’ birth, the cause of our true thankfulness. The month between Thanksgiving and Christmas is my favorite time of the year. It’s a time I get to see my family. It’s a time of true joy in my life because everything seems in focus.
As I look back on this year, it wasn’t an easy one. I don’t know about you, but while some exciting and great things happened in 2021, it was really hard on me. As you read this, I may be home, which is the first time since last Christmas that I’ve seen my parents and my aunts and uncles. I was able to see my brother in June/July when he came to help me move, but that's been it. My mom has had failing mental health all year that I haven’t been able to help with, other than praying, which I will admit, is a greater power than I possess. But it’s been hard only hearing about her condition from afar, and knowing that my dad has been through perhaps the hardest year of his life this year. So I have more reason to be thankful this time of year. I can finally go to see my family again and share the joy of this season with them, which I cannot properly articulate how much that means to me. This truly is a season unlike any other for me this year.
And maybe you’re in a similar position, where this year has just been hard. Things haven’t gone as you planned or thought they would in January. I sincerely hope you have some respite in the next month as we celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace into the world. Life can be hard. I think every human being on the face of the planet knows and understands this. But as hard as life can be sometimes, let us remember why we celebrate Christmas. The entire Christmas story in Matthew and Luke is surrounded by hardship. Mary, a virgin, is found to be pregnant with the Messiah by way of the Holy Spirit, or in other words, not by way of her soon to be husband Joseph, which I’m sure caused a lot of hardship for them. I mean, it was fully within Joseph’s rights as her betrothed to have her stoned for infidelity, but God sent an angel to calm Joseph’s fears. Fast forward several months and they have to go to Bethlehem to have the baby because of the census taken at that time. That was probably not an easy trip to have to make, regardless of how pregnant Mary was. Then after Jesus is born, the wise men come, having traveled several hundred miles just to see him. King Herod finds out about this new king of the Jews, which then incites him to kill all the baby boys 2 years old and younger in the greater Bethlehem region. So Joseph and Mary take Jesus and move to Egypt, another several hundred mile trip, and live there for around 3 years. The Holy Night we sing about was surrounded by hardship on all sides and from all angles. But the greatest gift of all was the result.
We all deal with hardship in our lives. One of my favorite Christmas memories involves hardship. After getting home from our Christmas Eve service one time when I was in high school, we discovered a man had gotten his car stuck in our ditch on his way somewhere. There was a sleeping baby in the back seat that was just so cute. My dad went inside and grabbed the cat litter to help us get traction in the snow and we were able to push the man out and send him on his way. I don’t remember the man’s name or where he was going, but helping him really brought me joy. Whether your 2021 was hard or not, you can still make differences in the lives of the people you find yourself around this holiday season, whether you know them or not. I urge you to make the most of it, helping them to also have a season like no other as we celebrate the coming of our Savior.
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” -Luke 2:14 (NIV)
