Counting the Days
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
We have roasted the turkey, stuffed ourselves with
stuffing and mashed potatoes and splurged on apple and chocolate cream pie. We
have already laughed at Tim in The Santa Clause 2, and have been serenaded by Bing
and Danny in White Christmas. Black Friday has come and gone, and you probably
got some great deals on gifts (and even a few for you, right?).
Now we count the days until Christmas (28 days and
counting, in case you wondered).
I love this time of year. I love stringing little white
lights all over the house, hanging pine roping on the banisters and baking all
kinds of Christmas cookies. I make Chex Mix, pop popcorn and drink more hot
cocoa than I should. But sometimes I try too hard to make it perfect, to make
Christmas memorable.
Many years ago, when Hannah and Sydney were just toddlers
and Colin and Riley weren’t even a twinkle in our eyes, I let a Hallmark
commercial ruin Christmas Eve. It was the commercial where the dad walks up to a
hilltop on Christmas Even to open the card from his now adult daughter because
it had been their tradition to walk to that hilltop every Christmas Eve
together. Ok, I cried. Then I decided we needed a tradition like that. I
convinced Mike of my plan. We decided that we would decorate a Christmas tree
back in the woods on our farm where no one could see it but Jesus as a way to
honor Him on Christmas Eve.
I spent a month stringing popcorn and cranberries, because
we all know how helpful toddlers are with that stuff. I bought battery operated
lights, and even a star for the top. On Christmas Eve, we bundled the girls in
their snowsuits, and drove up to the woods in our old Jeep with all of our
decorations in hand and hope in our hearts.
It was cold that year, bitter cold. And the Jeep did not
have a working heater. Let’s just say it was not a Hallmark moment. We got to
the tree and Mike hopped out to decorate it. I stayed in the car with the girls
to keep them warm. After five minutes, their noses were red, they were both
crying, and Mike was frustrated and freezing. He tossed the rest of the
decorations in a heap on the tree, we called it quits and drove back to the
house for some warm hot cocoa.
We can laugh at that memory now, but it was a frustrating
experience at the time. You see, I got all wrapped up in the trivial stuff. I
was counting on my own plans to make Christmas special, as if decorating that
tree in the woods would make Christmas what it was meant to be.
I had forgotten that Christmas was already decorated by
God, in the beauty of a lowly manger that was not strung with little white
lights, but brightened by the gift of the Baby who came into this world to save
us all.
And though there is nothing inherently wrong with
decorating your home, baking, shopping and creating family traditions, we do
need to remember that Christmas is beautiful because of Jesus, not because of
anything we do.
So go ahead and decorate your home, hang white lights and
bake delicious cookies. Just remember what Christmas is about. And as you count
the days until Christmas, remember to make those days count.
Posted by Trish Berg 10:36 AM
