Christmas Reflection

Christmas can be an amazing time of year… and it can also be really hard. Some people are lonely. Some are broke. Some are so busy they don’t even know what day it is. I’ve been all three ~~~ sometimes all at once. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). That verse alone feels like Christmas to me.

When the season starts to feel heavy, I lean into simple little traditions with my family. Baking cookies (half of which mysteriously disappear before they ever cool), watching Christmas classics like It’s a Wonderful Life, and fully committing to being that parent, the one who says yes to sledding and no to dignity. Cold? Yes. Worth it? Also yes. “A joyful heart is good medicine” (Proverbs 17:22).

I also slow down and really dive into the Christmas story. I take time to sit with the details- the ones we usually rush past. Who Mary was. Who Joseph was. How incredibly special- and brave-hey must have been. “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God” (Luke 1:30). And Joseph, choosing obedience even when it made no sense: “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him” (Matthew 1:24). That kind of faith hits different.

Then there’s the manger. The chaos of traveling, being exhausted, and trying to find a place to have a baby. “Because there was no guest room available for them” (Luke 2:7). I mean… giving birth in a stable had to make things harder. No birth plan. No comfort. No crib- just hay. Zero stars on Yelp.

The prophecies being fulfilled are incredible: “But you, Bethlehem… out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel” (Micah 5:2). The Wise Men following a star like, “Yes, we will rearrange our lives for this,” “We saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him” (Matthew 2:2). Bold faith.

And my favorite part... the shepherds. Just ordinary people doing their jobs when suddenly the heavens open up and a whole host of angels starts singing. “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God” (Luke 2:13). Can you imagine?! One minute it’s sheep and silence, the next it’s a celestial concert. No warning. No rehearsal.

Sitting with this story calms the chaos. It quiets the loneliness. It pulls my focus away from the pressure, the presents, and the perfection- and brings it back to Jesus. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given” (Isaiah 9:6). Who He is. What He came to do. And how breathtaking the Christmas story really is.

It reminds me that God entered the world not in comfort or excess, but in humility, mess, and love. “Though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor” (2 Corinthians 8:9). And somehow, that makes everything feel lighter, even in a season that can be complicated.

Also… it pairs beautifully with cookies. And maybe a second Christmas movie. Grace covers that too. 🎄✨