What Christmas Means to Me (+ a secret)

I’ve got a secret to share at the bottom of this post, but first here’s my current physical status:

• only 3 gifts wrapped
• only 3 more gifts to buy
• things to bake: gingerbread cookies for our annual ninjabread cookies for Santa and french bread for family dinner
• piles of laundry to do: 8? 9? I don’t even know. 

All in all, we’re surviving over here for Christmas and I’m laughing at the birds flitting around in the rain outside my office window as I write this.

Here’s my current heart status:

I’m sitting here with my Bible open to Luke, trying to put myself in the shoes of a first-century Israelite at the time of Jesus’ birth. There are three things about this timeframe I can’t get out of my mind:

1. The people of God had not heard directly from God in about 400 years. Up until the moment that Jesus was born, it had been a season of divine silence.
2. Jesus entered the world in a time of political chaos. Although the Roman Empire controlled Palestine, the area was heavily influenced by both Greek and Roman cultures, in addition to agendas driven by a myriad of different groups of Jewish believers. It was a divided political climate, one that was swirling with uncertainty and confusion.
3. The Israelites that had not given up on God’s promises were anxiously awaiting the promised Messiah. The keyword here being awaiting.    

And so, I’m wondering on this rainy day if one of these scenarios might resonate with you. Are you walking through a season where you feel like God has been silent? Could you describe 2019 as a personal year of confusion and uncertainty? Or are you moving through a period of waiting where you are wondering when God might move to answer your prayer?

The physical Christmas season around us is full of gifts and sparkles and the glow of Christmas lights. But if the heart of your Christmas doesn’t reflect the automatic joy that pops up in every retail store across the country, I hope it will comfort you to know that’s exactly why Jesus came.

He came for the ones who felt like God had forgotten them. He came for the ones drowning in chaos. He came for the ones longing for God to move. He came for the outsiders, the brokenhearted, the weary, and the worn out. He came for you and me.

This is what Christmas means to me. It means that in the middle of all our mess, there is hope cooing in a manger. It means that Jesus chose to enter a world that was utterly undone so that you and I might find rest and joy and peace in the imperfect. It means that until the imperfect is made perfect when He comes again, we might hold fast to His promises and know that our story doesn’t end here. 

So as we turn our hearts to celebrate Jesus’ birth this week, may we rejoice that we can turn to the voice of God in Scripture, we can trust Jesus to speak into our chaos, and we can wait in confidence that God will move in His perfect timing to answer our prayers.

I am praying for you today and wishing you and yours a very, Merry Christmas, one filled with the hope of Christ. I’m rooting for you, always.

Much love,

Heather

Yay, you’re still here! Here’s my secret:

Coming September 2020!

My laundry pile will have to wait. This pile of books is taking over. I’m in the middle of writing the manuscript for my next Bible study! Stay tuned for more info where I’ll reveal what book of the Bible I’m writing about. Until then, I’ll probably be a little quiet in the social media world until I hand this baby over to my editor. I’m thinking about you as I write and covet your prayers for wisdom and guidance and words that will draw women deeper into the Word.