When is Christmas Over???

Ok…today is the day after Christmas.  I have been reading my Facebook friends pages and how most have already taken the decorations down and put  them away.  I cannot do that…I love the tranquility of the tree and the lights shining in the evening.  I began to think about this and that is dangerous!!  This is what my brain began to think:

When a baby is coming, we have showers for the mother to be, become busy decorating the nursery in anticipation, have family all together at the hospital pacing while the mother delivers.  There is organized chaos! The baby is born and all go and see it…some wanting to hold it and the new mom and dad stare intently at this creation of God until the nurse comes and gives them some rest. Then BOOM…reality hits!  This little family goes home.  There are sleepless nights and the awesome responsibility of raising this child who comes with his/her own agenda!!!  The how-to baby books are thrown out the window and for many frustration replaces the joy of that anticipation.

Doesn’t sound very encouraging does it?  So, why do we have a desire for these little ones if they bring a mixed bag of emotions?  Because deep inside this little one is the spark of life that God created and the hope that things can be better.  The frustration turns into patience…the sleepless nights cause a reliance on something other than ourselves.

Preparing for Christmas is much the same way…we decorate, have parties and family gatherings and then boom it all disappears…much more quickly than it appeared.  We return to “real life” where there is frustration and stress and tend to wonder why we even desired to celebrate that little baby.  This wasn’t the Christian life I thought it was going to be!  Why am I hurting?  Isn’t it suppose to just be “the most wonderful time of the year?” Was it worth it?  Oh, dear one…when we stop and reflect on this baby we see more than a spark of life---we see LIFE abundant.  We, in our stress, see the peace of God.  We hear His words that yes, there will be trouble on this earth but He has conquered this earth.  We grow stronger and more patient and more loving because of this baby.  We can’t put Him away with the decorations any more than that new mom and pack her child away until next year!  Intentionally see this birth as your hope.

I am keeping my decorations up a little longer…to reflect…to relax and to rejoice in the fact that this is not about a “day” but a life!