All to Welcome Him

It’s three days before Christmas. I wake to pouring rain. There are visions in my head of my children and I baking merrily together and happily wrapping presents, surrounded by peace and warmth and filled with joy. I see this vision in my head, and then I say to myself, “Temper your expectations, lady.” I may want peace and joy, but someone will be grumpy. Someone will be quarrelsome. Someone will be disobedient and make a huge mess. The cookies will not look pretty. Someone (ahem) will be stressed.  To top it all of, I still have to go to the grocery store to get cookie supplies. Horrors. Someone might yell at her children to get their seat belts on already, and that someone might be me.

And all of this is why Jesus came. He came because beauty on t his earth was marred, perfection unattainable, and perfect joy impossible to create. But then He came. He dwelled. He saved. And light is here and hope is all around. His coming is why joy is possible even when the cookies look wacky and the quarrels outplay the carols.

What if all my Christmas preparations were to actually celebrate His coming? What if
what I do today is done all to welcome Him? These cookies are made to celebrate His coming. This wreath is decorating our door to tell Him we’re glad He came. These gifts are wrapped in pretty paper to display our joy in Jesus’ love for us and our love for each other. Even in Christmas, not unto man, but unto Him? That could change our Christmas days, couldn’t it? Maybe I wouldn’t yell. Maybe I wouldn’t care if my daughter’s wrapping skills aren’t what I would like them to be. Maybe

He came for us. May what we do in preparation for Christmas Day be welcoming to Him.

Other Christmas-y posts at Miathereader.com:

It’s Not Too Late For Christmas

What Christmas Looks Like Sometimes