A Modern Christmas

I was driving home watching all the beautiful lights and nativity scenes set by the road and thinking to myself that it was going to be difficult to explain things like a stable and a manger to Alina (my almost 4 year old) this year when we talked about the Christmas story. She's just now old enough to really discuss the meaning of Christmas, the Savior's birth, etc. As I pondered the concept, God spoke to me and gave me a new way of viewing it:




We think of a nice warm stable with fluffy hay and pleasant baahing and mooing in the background, and big bales of hay to sleep in, a deep manger just the right size for a baby Jesus who is wrapped up in clean linen strips and happily sleeping... but realistically, a more acurate image would be as follows: a poor, tired Mary who is soaking wet in a hoodie and jeans, freezing nearly to death huddled together with Joseph who is himself worn out from trying to find a place for them, feeling like a failure as a husband because he couldn't find anywhere but the backside of a kmart to make a shelter out of cardboard boxes for his family. They have a few tarps to keep out the rain and cold, and a milk crate stuffed with Joseph's hoodie for baby Jesus, who would realistically be screaming at the top of his lungs because he was so shocked at the nasty cold reality of the parkinglot!


The scripture states that there was no room for them in the inn but that they were allowed to go stay in the stables. We automatically infuse our romanticized picture of a cooing Jesus, a happy but tired Mary and a proud watchful Joseph. We have the tendency to leave out things like Mary being a young teenager (probably 15 or 16), Joseph being pretty young as well, and Jesus being a human baby which means crying and pooping and being hungry. We leave out things like Mary being disowned by her community because she was pregnant out of wedlock and no one believed her story -- meaning no baby shower, no wonderful cribs and playpens and sweet little clothes.

This Christmas season as you celebrate the birth of the King, go over to tent city and bring some food and blankets for the homeless. Let's remember what Christ actually was born into and throw out the lovely nativity scene we have engrained in our minds.

Stress

Today I took a long lunch at work because I had too much going on -- a member of the family was diagnosed with a serious illness, our dog was killed (possibly by a coyote?), one car's in the shop, the other one needs it, Brent and I have been fighting, I'm exhausted, the house is a wreck, and the kids need baths pretty badly. While I was walking over to the closest thrift store for some "retail therapy" it occured to me that buying things is a strange way of coping with stress.

Everyone has ways of coping. These things are bred into us even as small children. As a child I would lock myself in my room and be alone if I was too stressed out. Some people eat when they're stressed. Some people cry, others talk it out, others yell and scream or get violent. All of these are ways of expressing one major thing

"I can't handle my life right now!"

Strange that we naturally turn to tangible things to relieve our stress (ie food, people, shopping) instead of the One that can relieve the stress and help you cope. Why do we do this?

There's something in the back of your mind somewhere that discounts God as a "stress management method". Something in there tells you that God is too busy, or not interested, or can't fix your troubles and there's no reason to focus on Him, because you can take care of yourself just fine. But the fact is, however, that you can't take care of yourself because look at you, you're sitting there with a half gallon of ice cream and a spoon!

Taking care of ourselves is something we pride ourselves in here in America. Pull up those bootstraps, do it yourself, etc. But it's not in the Kingdom mindset. Thats a natural (carnal) gut instinct that we have to work out of us. Think about it.

Limited Visibility

The rain poured down today as I was driving my family home from cleveland in the setting sun. It was hard to see anything in the first place and totally impossible more than several car lengths ahead due to all the fog and smoky looking clouding. I had to be cautious and pay alot of attention as I drove, taking extra measures to be safe.

Then Father spoke in the midst of it and said "such is life."

Some days we can't see where we are going. Some days we don't know whats ahead of us except the very close and the very far (we know our destination). The question that remains in the fog is whats coming soon.

Limited visibility causes wrecks alot. When I was 8 my mom t-boned a man that pulled out in front of us. It was rainy and the man did not see us. We skidded into him and I broke my left elblow. The judge rulled that it was the other man's fault, but advised my mom to drive more carefully in the rain. More often than not, however, if the drivers had been a little more cautious, that seeminlgy unavoidable 5 car pile ups in life would have been fender benders.

We can't always prevent the accident altogether but we can effect the level of impact and amount of damage caused.