Training Hearts At Home: Accepting Our Less Than Perfect Christmas

Through the years I have had to lower my expectations for the perfect Christmas my mind's eye envisions. This year was no exception. I think I was less prepared this year and never reached the point of the house being fully decorated, things in their rightful places, candles burning, house cleaned, atmosphere set, etc. Actually the last several Christmases have gone more in this direction as our lives have become busier than ever.

One set back for this year was that my purse was stolen at Aldi's grocery store, and so I ended up having to spend some of my precious holiday time to shop for replacements for my purse and everything in it. I also ended up going to the eye doctor to replace glasses and to the DPS to get a new driver's license. My time is precious little during this busy season, and so this whole hassle set me back even more.

On top of that I've had the busiest year of my life. Many wonderful things have happened this year, but we have been going from one major event to another all year long. This December I found myself in the middle of many unfinished projects and a messy house that never fully got cleaned up. The unfinished projects will be rolling over into the new year with hopes and prayers that we can make improvements as we rearrange, sort and organize things. So my house was not all sparkly and clean this Christmas, and I never fully decorated our house either.

(A dear Amish friend hand crafted this card for us with nine snow people to represent our family! It is the little things that mean so much.)

One thing that bothered me all December is that I was unable to put up my special "Mama" tree that is different from our "Family" tree. Most Christmases I have managed to put up two trees with one being decorated with very special, breakable, glass, sentimental ornaments. Some of my favorite ornaments go on that tree, and I have fought hard to make it happen each year. This year I just gave up as I knew I did not have time for the more elegant tree. Somehow this bothered me all the Christmas season, and I continued to toy with the idea of even getting a small tree to quickly put up on my dresser with a few of the special ornaments. Even that was too much to tackle as it would mean first cleaning off my dresser, and I just have not had the time.

In addition to all of this our family started falling sick half a week before Christmas and we are still trying to mend and fully recover. I actually felt very bad on Christmas Eve and not too great on Christmas Day either. I just tried to press through the cooking and gift wrapping telling myself that it is alright that things are not as perfect as I would dream them to be for this year's Christmas.

I've really been thinking a lot this Christmas season about how we have an expectation of a perfect Christmas, but things are not always happy circumstantially at Christmas. This leaves us feeling disappointed and often discouraged. I have been thinking about how that Christmas really is about worshiping and rejoicing in our Savior's birth. That is something that no sickness, dirty house, stolen purse, and undecorated tree can steal from us. Even when we have set backs and our plans don't come to completion we can be still and rest in knowing our Emmanuel has come. Jesus is here with us and that is something to be joyful about!

It is wonderful that we can have a time of year to create special memories with family, to treasure family traditions, to draw close to our families, etc. but our hope is not in all of this going on without a glitch. Our hope is in Jesus Who brings life and fullness to our good times and to our struggles.

On Christmas Eve, as I was doing all I could to get food on the table and seeing all the imperfections in my preparations, I took a look at some of the simple things we had like pretty Christmas PAPER plates, a simple wooden nativity in the center of our table, gifts hidden for the children to find (a Christmas Eve tradition) a drawing my daughter did on our marker board, one daughter fixing another daughter's hair, etc. and saw the blessing even in the simplicity. Things do not always have to be Pinterest perfect to truly have beauty and significance. We can rejoice in our Savior dwelling within us and in the simple blessings of warmth, food, family, and all His many blessings to us. I hope this encourages you.

Some Christmases may seem almost magical circumstantially with sparkles and wonder, but other Christmases we will struggle to make it through just like the rest of the year. Even when things are not white, sparkly, and otherwise wonderful we can embrace the simple, the ordinary, and be glad in Jesus our Savior. Simplicity after all has its own kind of beauty.