The Perfect Christmas

If you could hire a "Christmas designer" to design the perfect Christmas, what would it look like? White snow? Glowing friends and family filling a large room with love and laughter? A tasty, juicy ham injected with pineapple or coke? Loved ones praising you for picking the perfect gift? A black Lexus with a big red ribbon wrapped around it? What does your perfect Christmas look like?

Actually, there was only one perfect Christmas, and it took God (not a "Christmas designer" or "super-mom") to pull it off. And even still, the perfect Christmas wasn't so perfect by our standards. Actually the perfect Christmas sounds a lot more like a typical Christmas for busy moms and dads. Travel through not-so-perfect weather and a day refusing to go according to the ideal plan. Exhaustion, frustration, and messiness. And THIS was the perfect Christmas. And I don't know for sure, but I think Mary would have agreed. Why? Because she wasn't aiming for just the right present for Joseph. She wasn't aiming for the perfect meal or a spotlessly clean home. She wasn't aiming for anything but the presence of Jesus.

By those standards, maybe you've had a lot more close-to-perfect Christmases than you think. Sure the green bean casserole didn't turn out just like you planned; no, you didn't get that gift you were hoping for; and yes, you're absolutely worn out by all the busyness. But when all the excessive expectations are stripped away, and when squint your eyes and look beyond the dense forest of commercialism, you'll find that this Christmas, like every other Christmas is one more reminder of that one perfect Christmas celebrated by Mary, Joseph, and a few strangers so long ago. A day to remember that day in history when God humbly invaded our story.

So raise the bar for your expectations this Christmas. Snow, family, smiles, gifts, love, laughter, and good cooking may be a part of it too, but I hope that you're expecting more. I hope you're expecting an awareness God's presence and gifts like peace, love, and hope that He brings each year as you remember Jesus.

Merry Christmas!