Melissa, Christmas 'Grinch' No Longer

Do you know someone who just doesn't like Christmas?  I do.  And it used to be me.

A couple of years ago I found that my heart started to open back up to the magic of Christmas.  I think it was a Christmas or two after we moved to Washington and I just found myself finally settling in and enjoying the season.  

You see, I used to work all Christmas long.  Hard.  And I saw so much greed and discontent.  And I let it bury itself into my heart.  Christmas meant bad things to me.  I couldn't enjoy the birth of the Christ child because I was too wrapped up in making sure that we made enough money or we had enough toys or that we checked the lists and checked them thrice...  it was exhausting.  And when my kids were really little, we would jump in the car on Christmas Eve, after we had counted the last of the Christmas donations and we would drive for hours to visit this set of grandparents or that set.  I didn't get to revel in the mystery and wonder of Jesus' birth.  I was too busy and too preoccupied.

But things have changed. I no longer have to deal with those things of 'Christmas' any more. And even though I have recently gone back to work for the same organization that brought me much strife during the season, it is different.  Way different.

"All who heard the shepherds' story were astonished, 

but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often."  

Luke 2:18, 19

Now, we have new 'traditions'.  There is no more rushing and scurrying about.  Christmas time is much sweeter and is again open to wonder and awe.

A few years back I started the 'tradition' of going to a church that is not our own on Christmas Eve.  See we have an absolutely wonderful Christmas Eve service at our church (It is one of my favorites of the year!) - but on Christmas Eve, I wouldn't mind being in worship ALL DAY LONG.  And this year, I can - almost!  Anyways, after our Christmas Eve service we usually go looking at lights as a family and then we find a church that has a late, late service and we go to that one as well.  Not only do we get to worship the Christ child again corporately, but we also get to see 'church' done in a different way.  One year it was non-denominational.  Another Episcopal.  Yet another Methodist.  This year, we are going to a Catholic service.  It has brought about many a wonderful conversation with my children about what we enjoyed and what we didn't (the communion wine at the Episcopal church was awful!) - but it also keeps us focused on the true meaning of the season and why we do all of the things that we do during this time and really throughout the whole year.

"Mary responded, 'Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.  How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!" 

Luke 1: 46, 47

Christmas carols have also been brought back into a new light within my life and this year I have found that I am enjoying them with a new vigor and joy.   I am reminded that not only do I love to sing them, but I love to play them on my flute as well.  It is not often that childhood memories pop into my head, but I was thinking about how much I enjoyed singing carols and songs at school - in fact, I think it was my favorite part of nearly every elementary school I went to - the All-School Carol Sing right before Christmas Break. There is just something about those songs... and I know that most likely it is the joy that bubbles up when they are sung - and they are usually sung with gusto.

My husband issued a challenge this morning to the congregation to listen to Christmas songs one day a month for the next year...  I just might try that out!  (He is going to be floored by this statement...)

My little Grinch heart has grown three sizes...  and I think perhaps a little bit more this Christmas season.

Find the joy of Christmas.  Don't let the busyness and hustle get you down.  Find that one little something that can bring you back to the stable - to the manger - where Jesus was laid.  I love to think of him as that little wiggly baby, wrapped in whatever cloth they could find.  Oh the joy that Mary must have felt - and Joseph too - when they looked upon that child.  The wonder of Christmas is there.  He is wonderful.  And awesome too.

"Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, 

and they will call him Immanuel, which means, 'God with us.'" 

Matthew 1:23 

(originally found in Isaiah 7:14, quoted by Matthew in his account of the birth of Christ.)

My prayer is that you will find the joy of Christmas within your heart.  Seek out the Christ child.  He is waiting for you.

With love and joy... and peace,

M

Melissa in Full Color.

I have had a lot of things to think about and process during the last week - God has been so faithful and loving, patient and understanding. And I don't think that I could have done anything that I have done without His full support and strength.

Not my will, but Yours be done, Lord.

The idea that God wants to give us a Technicolor view of the world has been rolling around in my head, over and over again.  I just have to say right off the bat - the word 'Technicolor' dates me.  I don't even know what the highest definition televisions are even called any more.  In my head when I am thinking about this concept, I see the movie, The Wizard of Oz, one of my favorites, where Dorothy goes from living in her black and white world (which do you even realize how muted THAT world was at the time! Technology is amazing...), to walking into a world full of color and wonder and amazement. For her, it was just a dream (sorry for the spoiler, LOL) but I believe that for us, God wants it to be a reality.

I really do think that the closer one gets to God, the more our eyes, ears and hearts will be open to the world around us.  Inasmuch as the world is filled with ugliness (due to the Fall - our world is a sinful one), our world is also beautiful.  Our lives can be beautiful - filled with love and joy and kindness.  Our eyes can be opened to what God wants for us to see - and I truly do believe that we can and will see more when we allow God to clean out the inner recesses of our own lives - those secret sins and dark places where we might harbor bitterness or resentment.

I am to the point in my own life where I don't even want to jeopardize my self with even the tiniest of sins (not that they are rated or on a scale, but some of you will know what I mean.)  I desire to do the will of God in my own life and I have seen so many blessings.  Some people might say - but your life is not perfect, you still deal with this or that - and yes, I do have to still work through the consequences of old past mistakes.  And it is because I am living and working through those things that keeps my heart and mind closer to what God wants for me and my life.

FYI - we live in a spiritual world.  We are being attacked each and every day, whether we like it or even know it.  It is because of this that we read in scripture that we are to put on the 'full armor of God' - just one example of how God wants to protect us, because He knows that we have to live here, even if for a short time.   I know that the closer one gets to God, the more that the Evil one wants to destroy you...  like moths to a light, those who are shining the light of God will attract those who yearn to get out of the darkness, and that makes someone very unhappy.

So as I have been saying to a few people...  why would you want to hold on to sin (a 'willful transgression of the known law') which will keep you from seeing the absolute amazing beauty that God wants to show you - because He wants to reveal so much more to us, but He can't if we are holding on to things that prevent us from growing closer to Him...

Testimony from this last week:  because I have been able to do some humanly 'impossible' things, I have been blessed with things that I might not have seen or recognized before...  A homeless man who needed direction, who simply asked for a piece of candy (and I said yes) - who then returned about 30 minutes later and asked for another.  It wasn't about the candy - he saw kindness in me and when I saw him the second time, I could sense his relief in finding shelter and warmth.  The candy was just an added bonus.  <3  A woman who was seeking help for her brother with HIV - I gave her direction and sent her on her way.  She returned to thank me, even though she unfortunately did not get what she was needing - but she saw something in me to return and asked me to pray for her and her brother.

It's these brief glimpses of Heaven that keep me going when I am hit with a brief punch of self-pity or jealousy or sorrow.  God is bigger.  God is stronger.  God is able.

Why don't we let Him do what needs to be done so we can do what He wants for us to do?

Be free, my friends.
M