Advent Is Underway, But The Journey Is Ongoing!
If you’re looking for a poetic, daily journey through Advent—steeped in both biblical truth and a passionate love for the natural world—I invite you to explore my devotional, Pilgrim God, now available on Amazon!
This daily Advent companion is $2.99 to purchase outright as an ebook, or Kindle Unlimited users can download and read for free.
I hope it blesses your Advent season!
A Christmas Moment
Nothing has stood in the way of my happiness and contentment more than having unfair expectations.
Can you relate?
For so many (myself included) stepping over the threshold into the holiday season can come with a whole bucketload of expectations, both stated and unstated. We all have childhood Christmases that we’re trying to subtly live up to, recreate, or—in some cases—escape from. We all have dynamics we wish we could change, memories we’d like to make, activities we would like to do. Many of us have a Christmas checklist, whether we admit it or not.
And while there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, if we’re not careful we can find ourselves trapped in our own hopes before we even realize it, mourning something we didn’t realize we wanted.
Growing up, I had beautiful childhood Christmases, some very dear memories. As I got older, I was unprepared for the way the holidays would change. When you’re an adult and the effortless childhood magic wears off, the holiday season can get…complicated.
In my early twenties, I attended a weekly group at my church specifically for folks who were in that tricky age bracket of post-college and early-career. Many of us were unmarried—single or dating—and a lot of us were a bit unmoored, a little bit adrift. Our teachers and group leaders were all people in their 50s and 60s, providing their wisdom and care along with their mentorship.
I was single and living outside of my parents’ house for the first time, in a living situation that was a bit…fraught. The roommate dynamics were tricky, and I was unpracticed at navigating that kind of overwhelming tension. I was facing my first holiday season where I wasn’t marking the Advent season in familiar surroundings, and even though I would be spending Christmas Day with my family, the whole “flavor” of the Christmas season was very much missing.
One Wednesday night in December, I attended the group as usual. We would all gather as a co-ed class before splintering off into our smaller mentorship groups, and one of the older ladies stood up to give us the teaching for the evening.
I’ve never forgotten it, all these years later.
That night, she talked to us about expectations, especially around the holidays, and how difficult they can be. How much they can set our hearts up for pain. It was like she was speaking directly to me.
The cure for these expectations, according to her?
She called it: the Christmas Moment.
Too cheesy? Let me explain.
As you journey through the holiday season, she told us, a Christmas Moment is something that you can’t force, you can’t create, and you can’t manufacture. It’s usually a glimmer out of the corner of your eye, something that catches your breath with surprise. Unexpected tears while listening to carolers, or at a holiday concert. A snow flurry that wasn’t in the forecast. A gift you weren’t looking for. Witnessing (or being part of) a random act of human kindness or compassion. Wandering into a moment of mundane magic in the post-holiday mess in your kitchen, or the quiet as you wrap gifts. A candelight service. A Christmas card from an old friend.
Something small, personal, and often difficult to explain to anyone else.
Instead of hopes and expectations, our teacher told us, prepare your heart to receive these Christmas Moments, these little diamond chips that fall into your lap when you least expect them. That is where the real beauty of the season can be found: when we let go of what we think we need in order to have a merry Christmas, and let Christmas speak for herself.
My friends, I know how powerful and profound this time of year can be, how difficult and strange and curious and unruly. I know how much so many of us yearn to go back to a nostalgic time that may never have really existed. How busy this season can get. How loud, how needy, how empty, how sentimental in all the wrong ways.
It’s easy to get cynical, or even sorrowful. But it’s not inevitable.
Maybe, just maybe, this season is going to be full of moments for you, unexpected blessings that will absolutely make your Christmas beautiful. Peace-filled. Sacred. Don’t try to force them. Don’t try to chase them.
Just open your hands, and see what the Giver of All Good Gifts has for you, this holiday season.
You may be surprised at what you find.
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A beautiful reflection on a complex season. Thank you!
Wonderful timeless message. Do you think we can find these moments throughout the year even? I try to, and thank God for them and call it grace.