There are so many reasons I’d want to declare this year’s Christmas holiday “cancelled”, or maybe even “postponed” if it were all about me! Last weekend, on the anniversary of my husband’s graduation to the realms of Heaven, I dreamed that my husband and I were taking a last minute day trip together somewhere. In my dream, I said to him from the front passenger’s seat, “Why does it seem like we haven’t done anything like this in a very, very long time?” In response, he slowly turned to me from the driver’s seat of the car with a smile on his face and I was suddenly aware that he was gone forever. Right there in my dream, I realized that this was our “last trip” together. So, in my dream, we decided to make the most of our last trip. I woke up that Sunday morning in a weird state of mind, realizing that it has now been five years since my husband departed to be with Jesus. At some point in our lives a very long time ago, we noticed that things seemed to happen in periods of five years for us. Five years would be the close of one phase and then a new phase would begin. Reflecting back on my dream last Sunday morning, I couldn’t help but think that this last five years is the end of one phase and the beginning of the next phase.
But, I wouldn’t necessarily “cancel” Christmas at that realization. Because, if I really think about it, I could allow this to be a bittersweet new beginning in my life. So, moving on to last Monday…I got a call from the school that I had to come pick up my middle school daughter as soon as possible because they had found out there was a positive case of COVID among the middle school students (exposure had occurred, unknowingly, the previous week). I quickly made arrangements to leave my job so I could go get her. That same day, my older daughter was experiencing some cold-like symptoms, along with my middle school daughter. I didn’t think much about it at the time. The next two days, my son ended up in bed all day long, not even coming down to eat anything for one whole day. On that Tuesday, my youngest daughter could barely stay awake throughout the day to do her schoolwork from home. I prayed for all of my children that whatever was plaguing them would be over soon and they would get better. Later in the day on Wednesday, I realized that I could no longer taste or smell. Still not able to taste or smell on Thursday, I decided it was time to get a test for COVID. I got tested Friday morning and was told that I should quarantine until I received my results. That meant I was going to miss my favorite service of the year at church that weekend-the Christmas Worship service! I had actually already decided not to go to church that weekend when I had decided to get tested. I got a phone call on Sunday that the COVID test result was positive and that I should quarantine/isolate for at least 10 days from when I first had symptoms. That meant no Christmas communion service on Christmas morning, either! My son was supposed to play on the worship team on Christmas! He had been looking forward to playing for the Christmas communion service for weeks!
If that wasn’t bad enough, I got a phone call from the school nurse on Monday with details on some specific guidelines we would need to follow in our own home to facilitate my kids being able to go back to school as soon as possible once the school Christmas break is over. (I had emailed the Head of School on Sunday to inform them that I tested positive for COVID.) After getting off the phone with the school nurse, I had more questions that I needed answers to. She had given me the phone number to our town’s Health Department if I wanted to get more clarity on the school’s COVID quarantine/isolation guidelines for families and also suggested that I might want to discuss it with my children’s pediatrician. That one day, I spent over an hour discussing how to best get my kids back to school with the school nurse, the pediatrician, and the nurse at our town’s Health Department. In the end, I realized that we would need to isolate/quarantine from one another inside of our own home if I wanted to get my kids back to school as quickly as possible without putting them through another COVID test. I had to get my two younger ones tested about a month ago when they were experiencing normal cold symptoms in order for them to be allowed to return to school. It was such a horrible experience that my youngest daughter cried for almost an hour afterwards! I don’t want to have to go through that again! So, we ended up having to disrupt our normal way of eating, sleeping, etc., in order to follow the guidelines necessary for my kids not to end up missing more of school than necessary. We haven’t been able to make Christmas cookies together-yet. We haven’t been able to sit down at the table and eat all together like we normally do at meal times. One of my daughters has been sleeping downstairs on the sofa bed because my two younger daughters normally share a bedroom. We are masked at all times whenever we’re together, or in a “common” room, like the kitchen or living room. This is supposed to be the “most wonderful time of the year”, but it kind of seems to be the worst time of the year right now in our household!
And, speaking of cookies, I can’t bake my annual Christmas cookies and hand them out to the neighbors this year! I had already decided that I wasn’t going to hand out homemade cookies this year due to the spread of COVID, but I had every intention of still going door to door in my neighborhood this week with treat bags filled with little goodies that I’ve been collecting on sale over the past several months. But, since I have COVID myself, I can’t even do that! Is this really Christmas? Shouldn’t it be cancelled or postponed this year??!
Oh, but-wait! I just rambled on and on for paragraphs talking about me and some of my current personal issues! I think I put in the title of this little rant that “Christmas is about Him…” That’s right! Let me re-focus on Who and What Christmas is really about! A tradition we started in our family too many years ago to remember, is to read Luke chapter 2 on Christmas morning. I read it earlier today, and it changes my whole perspective every single time I read it! I marveled anew at how God chose to reveal the birth of His Son to some shepherds in a field. And, I longed to have been witness to the angel praising God with a multitude of the heavenly host that day saying:
“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:14)
Again, I marvel that it was and is God’s desire that we experience His peace and His goodwill towards us. Reading down a little further in verse 16, I am humbled that our Savior was first introduced into this world as a Baby nestled in an animal’s feeding trough! My Lord and My God! Savior of the world! How could this be? Continuing, I read about Simeon who declared that he could now rest in peace because he’d seen the Lord’s Salvation after he saw the Baby Jesus when Mary and Joseph brought Him to the temple according to the custom of the law. I then read about the widow Anna who served the Lord faithfully night and day. I briefly identify with her and marvel that she had only been married for 7 years before she became a widow. It says she was a widow for about eighty four years! Then, I ask God if that’s what He has for me. I don’t get any answer-not that I was expecting one, so I continue reading. I always love reading about how the Child Jesus “grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him” in verse 40. I don’t know why I love reading that part so much! And, of course, I read further down in the chapter about how the 12 year old Jesus had lingered in Jerusalem after his parents had begun their return home and He was found in the temple listening to the teachers and asking them questions. When His parents questioned Him about His whereabouts, He asked them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” Every time I read that, I look inwardly and ask God how I’m doing at that. You know, being about My Father’s business. And, then I always strive to be better at being about His business. Finally, I get down to the last verse in Luke chapter 2. For some reason, it seems to be the verse that always stands out to me the most in the whole chapter: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” I love that! I think it helps me to recognize how much Jesus humbled Himself to become a man just like us and live amongst mankind.
So, after having read through all of Luke 2, I seem to have forgotten about my weariness of the current state of my own situation the day before Christmas 2020. And, I’ve come to the same knowledge that has been true since Jesus stepped forth upon this earth to be the Savior of the world. Christmas has always been-and will always be-solely about Him. What else matters? Absolutely nothing! I thank God for the love and the light that He has brought into my life and into my family! No matter what sorrows or woes you are currently struggling through today, I pray that you have a very Merry and Blessed Christmas! Because, after all, Christmas is all about recognizing the One and Only Savior of the World!💗
Merry Christmas- from our socially distanced family to yours! 😊
Tiffany Haynes
