“For You are my lamp, Lord;
And the Lord illuminates my darkness” (2 Samuel 22:29 NASB).
Since moving, Ryan and I have not really been out much in the evening after dark. One night last week we decided to venture forth, and I took the opportunity to notice Christmas lights carefully strung on houses and businesses. I love Christmas for many reasons and one in particular is the display of lights. Some people seem to go overboard with what I would call “seizure” lights. Others ran out and “patched” part of their roof with another kind of lights hoping no one would notice. Some chose to use simple white lights while others go wild with colors. And in our neighborhood, many front windows have Christmas trees proudly situated watching over the parking lot.
As much as I love to see these decorations, I can’t help but be reminded that such frivolousness is absent from my apartment this year. Last year I was perhaps one of those overboard people. I knew that my in-laws were coming to visit, a secret kept from my husband until they had arrived, and knew this was my one chance to decorate for other people. Last year we had a house. This year all our decorations are in storage at my parents’ home and because of the pandemic this is the first time in my life I will not be home for Christmas.
For many people, Christmas is about the decorations, food, gifts, family, Christmas movies, carols, favorite songs, hustle and bustle, and of course having the best Christmas church service. Now that I work for a school instead of a church this is the first time in eight years I won’t have to work on Christmas Eve. I actually, amazingly, get 2 full weeks off starting the Monday before Christmas. I remember in past years always wishing I had the week before Christmas off. Oh the things I could do! I could decorate the way I wanted; cook and bake to my heart’s content goodies that I would share with friends and family; I would go and help my mom decorate, and could finally… FINALLY feel as though I wasn’t rushed. I like to savor the moment and to me the preparations were as much as part of that long “Christmas” requirement list as anything else on there.
But as you all are aware, this year isn’t normal, and I feel kind of gypped. In all reality though, you and I both know what Christmas is supposed to mean for Christians. Perhaps this year, I can truly stand back and take stock realizing that none of those things in the must have “Christmas List” are even close to being real requirements. And maybe, when I venture out into the darkness of Christmas this year, the true Light, the only Light that actually matters, will be the one to illuminate my Christmas and yours. “…And the glory of the Lord shone around them” (Luke 2:9b NASB).