When Your Christmas Isn't What You Planned

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The sun is coming up on this beautiful day after Christmas, golden rays through cloudy, cold windows.  I have a heater going in the bedroom where I'm typing and a fire in the fireplace downstairs.  Our little Daschund, Jack, refuses to give up his bed yet, even after I put a sweater on him.

Christmas didn't go quite as I expected this year.  A bad cold kept me from the Christmas Eve party and Christmas Day dinner that I had planned to attend with loved ones.  It's threatened to keep me from my family's traditional tea party this evening as well.  My sewing projects and reading plans were hindered by runny eyes.  A broken oven sidelined the holiday delights I tried to cook for my husband and children.

Not quite as planned.

Yet, it has been a beautiful time with my guys, who chose to stay with me instead of going out.  My oldest child filled our stockings and read us the Christmas story from Luke 2.  We opened lovingly-chosen and lovingly-wrapped presents, watched a couple of movies together and ate lots of Christmas candy. I was happy to be able to see my kids for more time than the usual rushed moments before work or the tired ones after evening appointments, dinner and homework.

I loved slowing down and thinking about the reason we have Christmas, too.  Christmas Eve morning was quiet and gave me lots of time to read and reflect.
That afternoon and early evening--when my cold was just winding up--we spent some time with a group of men and women who have been wrestling through addictions and some heartaches of past pain.  They shared how they have a new start now through the love of Jesus Christ.  Most weren't spending Christmas Eve with their families.  Yet, they enthusiastically sang together that there was no place they would rather be than right where they were--in that love of God.  Tom had the great privilege of baptizing several of the men as they publicly declared their commitment to follow God for the rest of their lives.

Christmas evening, when I was beginning to get sad about not getting to see my parents and siblings or to make the cookies and meal I hoped to for my family, I began to think about others whose Christmas wasn't the way they may have wished it.  For some reason, I thought of those in prison this year, especially those imprisoned for their faith.

It made me more grateful, both for the blessings I had around me and for the amazing witness of faithful men and women.  This morning, as I read through some news headlines, I found one that was a great testimony of that.

Many of you know of the American Christian pastor held captive for three years now in the Middle East.  This year, he wrote a powerful letter to his family--and all of us.  As he wrestled with not being where he wanted to be for Christmas, it brought him back to the baby in the manger.  The divine baby who was born to die to save us.

His letter (follow the link at the end of this blog post) is worth reading.  It reminds me of what truly matters today--and every day.



Our relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Whether you are where you want to be this Christmas season or not, my prayer for you on this bright and chilly morning is that you can trust in God's faithfulness and rest in his love.  On Christmas Eve, I was reading Psalm 56:9 and it struck me again: "God is for me."  Trust him.

Merry Christmas!

Follow this link to read the Christmas letter from Pastor Saeed to his family:
http://insider.foxnews.com/2014/12/24/god-us-pastor-saeed-abedini-jailed-iran-writes-wife-naghmeh-abedini-and-family-inspiring

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