This Christmas season has been very different for my family. My stepdad, Raeford, was in the hospital almost the entire month of December, and he passed away just two days ago on December 21st.
If you ride by my house, you will think the Grinch lives here because there is no indication that Christmas is here. Inside my home, there is one decorated tree that didn’t even get completed, but not a single other decoration in sight. The mantel is not decorated. There is not one nutcracker, gingerbread man, Santa figurine or stocking. We haven’t done all the “things” people typically do at Christmas. We haven’t been to see Christmas lights or Santa. We haven’t been to all the normal Christmas events, and we haven’t watched a single Christmas movie. I haven’t wrapped any gifts. I was able to do my shopping because that was done online, and I was able do that from the hospital or wherever I was.
You’ve heard people say, “It doesn’t feel like Christmas.” And while it may not seem like Christmas at my house, Christmas is here. Our feelings do not dictate whether Christmas happens or not.
I was thinking about that and wondering why we even think we have to make Christmas happen in a certain way. We think we have to do all the things in order for it to be fun and joyous. But that’s wrong. Christmas is joyous regardless of what decorations are up in our homes or how many movies we watched. The expectation to somehow create Christmas distracts us from the real reason we celebrate.
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of a baby, God in human form, whose birth provided a way for us to be with God and to know Him.
Not having all the normal hustle and bustle of the season has given me much time to reflect on what is important, especially during this season.
My stepdad passed away three days ago on December 21st, and two days before he passed, he was so short of breath he could barely talk. He was so sick. When I got to the hospital that morning, I asked him, “How are you feeling today?” He took my hand and with a muffled, barely audible voice he said, “I am blessed.” What a testimony. He wasn’t lying there thinking about how he had missed Christmas…because he hadn’t missed it. He realized that he was on the receiving end of the greatest blessing this world has ever known, the birth of a baby boy who came to save us all.
