Oh deer

I like Christmas. I like shopping for gifts for family, friends, and even people I don’t know. But, I am not a fan of the aggressive marketing that surrounds these weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. I glanced at my email inbox this morning, two days before December even begins, and saw the following urgent subject lines:

Don’t Miss it! Ends Tonight!
Hours Left to Save!
FINAL HOURS! Up to 40% off!
Don’t Miss Out! Cyber Sale Today Only!
HURRY!! This sale won’t last!

In addition to the emails, our real mail is full of flyers with similarly pressing messages about one-day sales and this weekend only offers. I’m not sure how one is supposed to ward off anxiety in the midst of a culture essentially screaming at us to HURRY UP AND BUY THIS THING BEFORE IT GOES AWAY… FOREVER!!! DON’T MISS OUT!! SHOW YOUR PEOPLE HOW MUCH YOU LOVE THEM!! AND GET TO IT NOW YOU LOAFER!!

Amidst the clutter of all these commercial emails, there was another subject line tucked into my inbox. It read:

Give Thanks in Anxiety

Clearly, that was the one message I needed to read. The passage it focused on is Matthew 6:25-26:

Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?

I think Jesus might add in 2018, “Don’t worry about what you will buy for the people you love. Isn’t Christmas about more than all the hustle bustle? Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t shop or bake or gather into well-decorated homes, yet your Heavenly Father takes care of them. Aren’t you worth more than they?”

I love how Jesus knew worry and anxiety was something we would battle. I don’t think he would have addressed it otherwise. More than that, though, I love the way he encourages us to deal with our anxious minds and hearts. Rather than yelling, “Do not worry!” or “Pull yourself together already!,” he asks a few questions. His words aren’t condemning; they’re a comforting reminder that it doesn’t have to be this way. We don’t have to worry because he’s got this. And we can trust him.

This news is a relief because we cannot trust our email inboxes or our overstuffed mailboxes to tell us what matters.

Two weekends ago on a Saturday morning our young neighbors excitedly knocked on our door. I was upstairs and couldn’t quite tell what all the commotion was about, but I heard them way something about a deer being stuck in another neighbor’s fence. Deer sightings are not uncommon in our neighborhood so I was imagining that one had an antler tangled up in a fence or something of that sort. But these are the pictures they showed me when they came back in:

This poor deer had apparently been so alarmed by a car that he/she ran full speed into a metal fence and got himself lodged between two posts.

The Spouse helped cut part of the fence while our neighbor lifted the deer up and out to safety and freedom. And away it ran. Now every time someone says, “Oh dear,” this is the image that’s stuck in my head. Oh deer, indeed.

Sadly the predicament this deer found itself in is not all that different from the predicament I get myself in every holiday season. I’m in no danger of literally getting lodged in a metal fence since I can’t run that fast to save my life. But, I look around and see all there is to do and get panicky. Then I run around in circles trying to doing it all and ultimately get “stuck” in a state of frenzy and unrest.

This is surely no way to live. Peace doesn’t mean all the to-do’s on our list are checked off. And I have to remind myself often that peace isn’t a synonym for perfection. It has little to do with what’s going on around us and everything to do with what we’re tapping into within us. Peace is wholeness, harmony, and security. And the only source of that kind of peace is Jesus himself.

So, I’m hoping that if I’m going to act like a deer this season I’ll be less like the one stuck in the fence and more like the one mentioned in Psalm 18:33, “He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights.” I’d rather be surefooted because I know the source of peace than stuck because I’m trying to do it all in my own power.

And now on a much lighter note… This is the time of year when the girls express perpetual frustration over our lack of outdoor Christmas decor. Mind you, we have wreaths with bows on all the windows and floodlights that illuminate the house from the yard. But, this is not enough pizzaz for their taste.

Over the weekend I was looking through some pictures for ideas of how we could step it up a bit this year… tastefully. So I came across this photo that captures my idea of a classic and festive exterior:

They, of course, were unimpressed and this was met with “boos” of disapproval. As it turns out, this is more what they have in mind:

I’m not saying it isn’t festive, but can you even imagine the amount of electricity this uses every night? Ever since developing a tendency to get ocular migraines a few years ago, I have a sensitivity to flashing lights. I feel certain this setup would cause one every time I drove up to my own house. So for that reason and several others, it’s not happening. But let it be known that my children think we’re grinches because we only have “boring wreaths and bows” on the house instead of a synchronized light show that can be paired with music from your car radio.

I’ve always been a killjoy. It’s hard to live up to a name like Hollie {which is often confused with the “Holly” of Holly Jolly Christmas lore} at this time of year.

Wishing you a peace-filled end to this week and at least a few moments of light-hearted enjoyment of your people, even if you don’t see eye to eye on seasonal yard decor.