My daughter often has words of wisdom that I need to hear. Unfortunately, sometimes I am too stubborn to listen. Last night was one of those times. We were making our annual Gingerbread House and it collapsed. We all laughed when it happened, but I wanted to make it stand. My kids decided to decorate the remains while I started to boil the sugar. My oldest said, “Mom, that gingerbread house is perfect. It represents most families’ experiences with making one. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out like it is supposed to.” I knew she was right but I still wanted to make the perfect house for my kids.
So many of us parents want Christmas to be perfect for our children. We stress about every detail making sure it will hold the perfect memory. Often we do this if life has unexpectedly changed in some way for our family. We want it to still feel like Christmas or be the best Christmas ever. However, may I submit to you that the pressure that puts on you and your family will take away from the true meaning of Christmas.
Once again my mind takes me back to the first Christmas. I am sure that Mary and Joseph didn’t plan on giving birth in a barn and placing their sweet baby boy in a manager. Yet, that is exactly the way it had to happen for the prophecies to be fulfilled by Jesus. I can imagine for a moment Mary looked at Joseph and said, “I can’t do that! This is the Son of God! He deserves more than this!” Then life happened and she couldn’t wait for a room and our Savior was born exactly how he was supposed to be.
When you look at a Nativity scene I don’t think it is by accident, that baby Jesus is at the center of it. It is to remind us to keep Jesus as the center of our celebrations. As long as we do that our Christmas will be great, even if things don’t go as planned.
It is my prayer that you all have a very blessed Merry Christmas keeping the true meaning of Christmas at the center of our hearts.
Following His Lead 