A Thankful Christmas

Hi. This post is a day late because I just returned last night from a Christmas getaway, but I’m getting ahead of myself…

First, I hope you had a great Christmas! I pray as you celebrated the arrival of a baby so long ago, He arrived anew in your life and became Emmanuel, God with us, to you in a new way.

A few weeks ago, I was really struggling to get into the celebration of Christmas. I always miss my family, and maybe more so during the holiday season, but this year was the first time that it had really affected me so notably to be away from them. At the time, I’d had no invites to spend the holiday with anyone, and I was picturing a day home alone with sappy Christmas movies and tissues and hoping maybe Dominos would deliver on Christmas Day (though that didn’t seem likely).

One weekend, after being sick for much of the week, my emotions were as unwell as my body, and I spent about three days randomly bursting into tears whenever I thought of Christmas or family (or a number of other things).

At the end of the third day, I had been spending some time with God and my journal working through the thoughts and feelings at the root of the meltdown, and I had come to a point of acceptance. I finally reached the conclusion that this season is not about me, and Jesus is worth celebrating no matter who I am with. I realized that He is with me; He lives up to the name Emmanuel. I chose to make the best of the season and celebrate whether I was invited to spend the day with anyone or not.

Within hours of reaching that conclusion, I received a text from a friend inviting me to go with them to their family gathering and spend a couple of days away. I gladly accepted the invitation and now knew that I wouldn’t be alone for Christmas, but I was not prepared for all the ways I would be blessed during those few days.

I was made so welcome and felt as though I was part of the family before the Christmas dinner was even on the table. The accommodations I was given for the two nights were gorgeous. When “Santa arrived” after Christmas dinner was cleared, there were gifts for me from various members of the family, some of whom I’d never spoken to before Sunday.

As I sat there, surrounded by new friends and overwhelmed by their welcome and generosity when I had nothing to offer them in return, God whispered to me of His own extravagant love for each of us. We are welcomed into His family and given gifts and a place and more than we have ever thought to ask for. All of this is offered to us despite the fact that all we can offer in response is gratitude.

It is a humbling thing to accept gifts when you cannot offer anything in return. Pride tried to keep me from accepting what was offered a number of times during the past couple of days. I wanted to pay for things somehow, to offer something more than a simple thank you which seems so inadequate.

Pride, if allowed, will make us think we must somehow earn or repay what is offered to us by God too. He loves extravagantly, and we can never repay Him even a fraction of what He offers as He welcomes us into His family and makes a place for us. But, as He told me this week, our acceptance of and gratitude for His gifts and the love He lavishes on us is what He wants.

As we move into a new year this weekend, may we practice humble acceptance and gratitude for all we are given by God and others.

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