The best news

Well, it’s December 23rd and it feels like the most popular question people ask at this time of year is, “Are you ready for Christmas?”

At this moment one of my children is dancing around the den in one of my old bridesmaid dresses and high heels, another one is wildly playing a violin she found in a closet {never having had a lesson}, and a third one is walking around the house singing “Mary Did You Know” through a kazoo. So, my mental state is rapidly declining and I’m not feeling quite ready for Christmas.

Honestly, even if the holiday fell on December 29th or 30th, I probably still wouldn’t be completely ready for its arrival. There’s always one more gift that could be bought, one more something to bake, one more card I should send, one more festivity to attend or another tradition I meant to start.

One of my favorite writers, Emily P. Freeman, posted this thought earlier this week, and I’m still trying to let it soak in:

“As Christmas fast approaches, allow the myth of ‘being ready’ to fall gently away. He came before the world was ready because he knew what the world needed was not the illusion of control, well-laid plans, or predictable order around us. What the world needed was the presence of God among us. And so he came.”

I love that. As much as I want to be ready, it’s not possible. Even more, it’s not necessary. Whether the world was ready two thousand years ago or whether we’re ready this week, the truth is the same. He came. He comes. Thank God it’s about his presence and not our preparedness. As the carol says, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come.”

I can appreciate the way kids just seem to get that truth. They embrace the joy of the season without worry or concern for all that happens before or behind the scenes. Last week I found a piece of paper in the playroom with a handwritten script for a nativity play. I’m not sure who the intended audience was for this production, but apparently the 5th Grader wrote out this script, and she and her cousins were to be characters in the play. As I read through it everything was sounding familiar and on point until I got to one of the stage notes midway through the page:

If that’s hard to read, just after Angel 1 {also known as Gabriel} reassures Mary by casually pronouncing, “Yep! His name will be Jesus,” there’s a parenthetical stage note that says:

{Mary gets pregnant backstage}

I think this is where Gabriel needs to step back in and say, “NOPE!! That’s not how it’s going to go down.”

Luke 1:35 has never been more important.

“The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the son of God.” 

I love the innocence. Immaculate conception is a great mystery no matter one’s age.

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As always, I’m so thankful for you and the few minutes of time you take out of your day to read here ever so often. These posts are usually my best-face-forward. But, there is always more to people and families than that which can be documented in writing. We’re all too complex to be captured by text or even pictures alone. Of course, these stories are real. I try not to exaggerate or embellish much. We laugh and learn and love each other dearly. But, we are sinners. And, the challenges of parenting three young girls makes me aware of my weaknesses perhaps more than anything I’ve endeavored to do before. Sometimes, I’m tempted to quit blogging altogether when I think too long about the tension between who I am, who we are, and the picture these posts may portray.

But, when I think about Christmas I remember that the struggle with that disconnect is really what the Christian life is all about. God is perfect and holy. We are impossibly far from either. Our only chance at ever bridging that gap between who we are and who we want to be begins with the incarnation of Christ. God became real to us… God with us… and for us… at the manger. And, because of that unfathomable act of love, we can live in the midst of all our many tensions with hope. Not only is it good news; it is the best news.