Messy Christmas.
With the revival of my blog I had planned to write a post titled 'Christmas Reflections' that would go live on December 24th and would talk about lessons I've learned through Christmases over the years. However, Christmas Eve this year was much different than I had planned - in fact, my entire Christmas experience this year was much different than I had planned. Perhaps one day I'll still write my Christmas Reflections post, but for today I have something else in mind.
A typical Christmas Eve at the Sinclair house involves shrimp cocktail and tracking Santa with NORAD after we get home from our Christmas Eve service at Church. This Christmas Eve did not involve any shrimp or Santa as my brother and I found ourselves driving our mom into the Emergency Room after the Christmas Eve service. Some time later we returned home and with heavy eyelids we headed off to bed.
Christmas Day was also much different than it usually is as my mom still wasn't feeling great. My brother and I did get in our traditional Christmas Day lunch at McDonald's, however, instead of the usual turkey dinner and trifle we enjoyed a Christmas dinner of smokies, pierogies, and chicken fingers. We didn't get around to opening our presents until well into the afternoon and no family Christmas pictures were taken. We did not have our usual Christmas Day breakfast and my gifts were not wrapped to look like they came from a magazine but there was still Joy.
I'm not very good with embracing the messiness of life. I am continually looking for the perfect moment for my Instagram feed or the next photo for my blog. During Thanksgiving I spent hours setting the table so that it would look as picture perfect as possible. This Christmas was a lesson for me in embracing the imperfection that goes with everyday life. My Christmas was far from "Pinterest", but it was beautiful and simple and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Jesus didn't come to give me an aesthetically pleasing Instagram feed or fun things to post on my Snapchat. His birth wasn't an event that would have received a lot of likes and it probably didn't look like a page from a magazine. Jesus came to save me from the messiness of my own sin and because of that I can have Joy, even in the messiness of life.
Merry Christmas! I hope that during this Christmas season you are able to take time out of the business of life and experience the Joy that Jesus brings.
P.S. Mamma Sinclair is feeling much better! Thank you to all who prayed for her. :)