Not insignificant

This morning, on December 23, we celebrated Christmas because I work a 24-hour shift on Christmas Eve, and my husband works in the ER on Christmas Day. Santa delivered our packages last night, and we appreciate his accommodation of our busy schedules! Up until today, our days of December have been filled with Christmas activities. We’ve shopped, wrapped gifts, baked cookies, tried new Christmas recipes, sent out Christmas cards, gone to see “A Christmas Carol” at Actors Theater in Louisville, mailed gifts, and tried to remember many people this season. As much as I have enjoyed it, it has also been a little exhausting. 

After waking up at seven this morning to open gifts, make breakfast cinnamon rolls, and start the pot roast in the Dutch oven, I watched several Christmas movies—and then took a nap. This afternoon, while my husband was assembling my daughter’s doll house, I took a few moments to sit by the tree, sip coffee and read my Bible devotionals from the YouVersion Bible app.

One of these devotionals was geared toward the Christmas season. I like it because it helps to remind me what Christmas is really about. Despite the hustle and bustle of the season, I’ve tried to keep my focus on the birth of our Lord. I’ve tried to wrap my mind around how much God loves us—that He would send Jesus into this world to show us His love, to show us how to love, and to save us. My devotional today focused on the fact that Bethlehem was crowded with probably more than a million people arriving to town for the census. I imagined trying to go to another town today, for something similar, and not being able to find a single hotel room. I suppose the worst case scenario for me might be that I would have to sleep in my car for the night. 

I think about Mary, in her pregnant state, being transported by a donkey for miles and miles, and going into labor. Joseph had to find shelter for her; and of all places, it was in a stable. There, that night, she gave birth to Jesus, while the animals in the stable ate their dinner, slept, or stood by. I can imagine the stench in the air, the discomfort of the straw bed, and the little creatures crawling about. There was no crib or bassinet for Jesus. No, He was placed in a manger, a food trough for animals.

This amazing and true story reminds me how God does incredible things in our lives that may seem insignificant to us. God is not impressed with the man-made glitz and glamour of this world. Mary and Joseph were not put up in a high-end hotel that night with room service and a view of the lake. In fact, they had very little comfort in their surroundings. 

I think that sometimes God takes us into places of pain or discomfort or places that seem substandard to us. We question why we have to endure things that we don’t think we should have to endure. After all, we are His children, right? Shouldn’t there be some perks to that status? But when I think about how He brought His Son, our Savior, into the world through an unknown teenage girl in a stable with animals looking on, I get a glimpse of how our Father cares for us. He doesn’t guarantee plush comfort, or that things will be easy, or that we will always be happy. What He does guarantee is that He loves us, He will be with us through everything we go through, and that our comfort is in our relationship with Him. He guarantees that He is working for our good. The proof is in His gift to us—Jesus. Jesus wasn’t wrapped in royal, silk blankets. He didn’t sleep in a soft, cozy basinet. He didn’t have elite status. His birth wasn’t announced throughout the town with embossed birth announcements. 

He came quietly that Christmas night, was born in a stable, wrapped in cloths, and laid in a manger. God’s most amazing gift to us arrived in a way that people might see as insignificant, yet it was so powerful. The next time you feel that you are insignificant to God, that your situation doesn’t rank high enough with Him, or that He hasn’t provided the way you had hoped; remember how He does things. He extends His love to us in the way He knows we need it. You are so significant to Him.

Happy Birthday, Jesus, and Merry Christmas!

Twelve days of Christmas

Photo of the Christmas tree at West Baden Hotel in West Baden, Indiana

Seasons greetings! Can you believe we’re almost two weeks into December? By now, most of you have your Christmas trees up and the house is fully decorated to celebrate Christmas. If not, you still have time for many festivities. 

This year, I decided to do my Christmas shopping early, so that I could enjoy no-rush, thoughtful gift-buying. While I was on call for the hospital in Paoli, Indiana, where I sometimes work, I spent some time thinking about what Christmas really means. For me, it’s simple but magnificent. It’s a time to celebrate the birth of our Savior into this world. His mission was to redeem us from our sins by taking sin to death. He didn’t have to leave heaven to become a human, but he did. He did it so that He could live among us, teach us, and show His great love for us. He gave Himself for us.

His gift to us is why we give to others. Our gifts show our love for others, the way His gift showed love for us. So, in this season that can become quite commercial, I wanted to do something that would show love to my loved ones or to those who need to be shown love. I decided to do some research on the twelve days of Christmas. Here’s what I found (on google):

The twelve days of Christmas mark the period between the birth of Jesus and the visit by the Magi (the three wise men). This period begins on December 25 and runs through January 6. The four week period that precedes Christmas is called Advent. There is an urban myth that the twelve days of Christmas actually represent Christian theology:

1st Day, Partridge in a pear tree…represents Jesus

2nd Day, Two turtle doves…the Old and New Testaments

3rd Day, Three French hens…the Holy Trinity

4th Day, Four calling birds…the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

5th Day, Five golden rings…the Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible)

6th Day, Six geese a-laying…the first six days of Creation

7th Day, Seven swans a-swimming…the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit

8th Day, Eight maids a-milking…the eight beatitudes

9th Day, Nine ladies dancing…the nine fruits of the Spirit

10th Day, Ten lords a-leaping…the Ten Commandments

11th Day, Eleven pipers piping…the eleven faithful disciples

12th Day, Twelve drummers drumming…the doctrines of the Apostles’ Creed

This may be a stretch, but I decided it might be a good way to tie in God’s love with gift-giving. Plus, it would be fun. I decided to give twelve days of small gifts to my loved ones, and I also chose a few others who I thought needed some extra love this year. It took some time to buy thoughtful gifts. For example, on Day 1, I bought a single special gift, like a coffee mug or an ornament. On Day 2, I bought a pair of socks or gloves and included two “Dove” brand chocolates. On Day 12, I bought a dozen of something for each person. I tried to make the day of the gift match the number of items enclosed.

Once I bought everything, I wrapped each gift and made tags to go with each gift for each day. The example below shows the tag for my daughter’s first day gift. I also enclosed an explanation of the gift-giving on the first day. Then each daily gift had an explanation of what that day represents (i.e., “The partridge in the pear tree represents Jesus.”)

You can imagine the time it took for me to do this, given the fact that I wrapped gifts for eight people. However, it was fun, and I was determined to serve others during this important season by giving gifts to show love. It helped me stay focused on others, and this act of loving others was a reminder of Jesus’ great love for us.

I think I’ll add this tradition to our Christmas season every year. I can’t wait to see the excitement in the faces of my loved ones as they open a gift every day. Mostly, I just want them to know how much they are loved. How do you celebrate this season, and what are some of your Christmas traditions?

Merry Christmas!