If you, too, are finding yourself woefully behind where you'd hoped to be closing out this third week of Advent, may you be able to pause in a quiet moment to remember what really matters, as I did this morning, and have written about in poetic form here.
'Tis three days until Christmas.
We don't have a tree!
Someone was sick on Guadete Sunday.
That someone was me.
A belly bug hit
And threw Advent prep askew,
Leaving us now
With far too much to do.
So many traditions never happened.
So many preparations are left undone.
And the house? Disaster in every room.
Seriously, each and every one.
So, what shall we do? Shall we make a huge final push?
Nope. For if we did,
My brain would be utter mush.
With task list in hand,
And "let's do this" on my lips,
I'd have us running so crazy...
No, we just must come to grips.
It's okay if this year is different,
If many things are amiss.
Because one thing is just right
And that one thing is this:
Jesus comes anyway.
He comes in His time.
To bless us with His presence -
So joy-filled and sublime.
He made a mere manger wondrous.
He turned despair to hope.
He transformed sinners,
Lost souls, and misanthropes.
He came to us humbly
as a baby born in a stable.
And He comes daily through grace
To those who are able
To simply say, "Yes.
Let His will be done"
Today and every day until
Once again to earth He comes.
So decorations, traditions,
gifts, cleaning, and baking,
All the things we typically do
To prepare for merry making,
All we usually partake in
As we wait in joyful anticipation
Truly, they can be set aside
For there still is jubilation:
A Savior was born.
Let. that. sink. in.
Joy comes not from tasks completed.
It comes from Him.
Wherever you are at this moment, may your Christmas be filled with joy!
