The young proud father held his baby girl in his arms, “This is her first Christmas and I want everything to be perfect!” The elf checking in customers for their visit and picture with Santa just shrugged his shoulders, after all it wasn’t his problem the Santa the mall hired this year wasn’t fat! “We’ll wait for the fat Santa”, the young man said in a huff as he stepped out of line.
This was a clip from a television show last week and although I laughed hysterically, what a reality check it was. Although I’ve never been concerned about Santa’s weight I can certainly think of many incidents that pull at that desire to have “Everything perfect”
It started with the tree. First we named him “ Sheldon” which was a mistake because there’s an instant attachment when you name anything! For the first time ever I thought we needed to return our tree. Upon its arrival into the living room, he started raining needles, you could hear them pouring onto the rug. Since we have our tree up for a month, if Sheldon kept raining needles it would look like the Charlie Brown tree in a week! Steve convinced me Sheldon was in shock and would be o.k. The next crisis was as I stood there with the last ornament to place on the tree all the lights went out. A friend sitting on my sofa watching told us we shouldn’t hook up any more then three strands of lights together. Well, we had at least ten strands! My electrician Steve fixed it all so that Sheldon is plugged into a few different outlets, whew….after all that, Sheldon is a beauty!!
We all have our expectations of what Christmas should look like. For some it is the way the house is decorated, for others it is the gifts they buy (and receive!). The older I get (and I am getting old!) I realize and am content with the “imperfectness” of my life. Christmas cookies have been burnt, lights continue to short circuit, but it represents what “the norm” is. Yesterday Emeline had her sweet friend Nell over. I enjoy watching these two girls, they jump from one activity to another. Yesterday they created a gingerbread house together. It turned out nice and beautiful but they replaced one of my favorite Christmas decorations with their house! Of course I couldn’t say anything but I was disappointed to see MY favorite piece tossed aside…
As I look around I chuckle. Lights are out that should be on, fragile item have been broken, candy has been eaten off the calendar on dates that aren’t here yet, and my favorite Christmas centerpiece has been rejected.
Yet..My heart is content…without the people I love around me life would be different. My house without them would look perfect…someday they’ll be gone and I’ll miss it all!
Enjoy the “imperfectness” of the holiday, laugh with the people you love, and remember Christmas is about how God came down and gave us Himself……EMBRACE THE PERFECT GIFT!
Blessings, Debbie
