Christmas

I am so excited about this Christmas!!!

I have had to remind myself everyday that is actually is Christmas. The weather here has been..... ODD. I am not complaining. I truly don't mind not slogging through the snow, or having to scrape off my car... again! But it is easy to forget. Despite the trimmings and the shopping .... and the cleaning.

I am hosting Christmas this year. Everyone is coming to me. I have been thinking about this for a couple of months now, and I am excited about the prospect- and a little nervous.
Last month I was sick for a couple of weeks, and so I fell behind in the cleaning department. Also, I have been in my house for almost a year, so there are some things that in all the busyness have been forgotten.... ceiling fan blades, spiderwebs in the occasional corner... normal stuff. There are cupboards whose contents don't make any sense but I haven't needed them for anything else, so I have left stuff where it got shoved during the first few months of unpacking.

With the one year anniversary of my move coming up, I am also finally feeling "settled" in-until recently, I still had a couple of boxes that I would move around as I needed the space they were occupying! I am starting to think a lot about paint colours, and I feel like I "know the place" now. And as I see what I want to change with paint and pillows and perhaps a hammer, I also am beginning to see the flaws.

I suppose it is that way with everything. In the newness of any situation, you don't see the details, and that is good, however the challenge becomes staying content when those flaws start to appear.

I have had to fight the urge to take on major projects in the last month or so, projects that would never be ready for Christmas, but which would make ME look like such a domestic DIVA at Christmas. In keeping with the spirit of this year I have decided to just bite off what I can chew!

I will admit that I have done more cleaning that would be normal, and done a lot of rearranging to make room and to 'clean' my spirit and get ready for the new year.

It got me thinking today, we know that Christmas is coming, we count down the days, deep clean our homes and our spirits- I know you behave in December just in case Santa is peeking!
A new dress, new sparkly earrings, perhaps a pair of strappy sandals, new napkins, special table cloth, new recipes, all to make this special time more beautiful- and so we should!

I wonder, though, what would have happened if the world had known the exact date of Jesus' birth.

Likely the Jewish leaders would have made sure to have the nicest hotel room available - perhaps have a royal physician standing by for the birth. As Jesus grew up he likely would have attended all of the best schools.

If the world had known at the time who He was likely we would have never met the woman at the well, He wouldn't have needed to cross the lake to the other side to get a moment's rest from the crowds, and might never have calmed the waves. He certainly wouldn't have been "allowed" to choose 12 ordinary young men to walk with Him everywhere. Zacheas likely wouldn't have needed to be in a tree because he had the money to buy the front row seats that likely would have been on sale- and so no life changing public calling.

So much of Jesus ministry could not have taken place had "the church" accepted Him as messiah earlier... in fact, they wouldn't have had cause to put Him to death! One of the most amazing things that I have come to appreciate about God is His ability to take us as we are.

So this Christmas season stop for a moment and everytime you see a "flaw" let it remind you that God knows every flaw, and that if we were too "clean" He would have no reason to stick around and guide us day to day!