We Do Christmas Differently

Ahh, Christmas! That time of year that we put on our nice clothes, or buy new outfits, and stand in front of a tree, real or fake, and pretend like we've got it all together! Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed all the posts on my social media of family and friends. It's just that it seems so superficial. Christmas letters only include highlights from the year and even knee replacements tend to have a lighthearted quip. Family feuds are put away for a time in the name of goodwill, glad tidings. and a perfect smiling family photo.

I guess it just reminds me of how un-perfect

my own family is. In fact, here is the only Christmas photo I have of my son. It was taken at our parents' church during the Christmas service where I sat with my son alone in a room at the end of a long hallway, away from judgmental stares and gawkers. While most children his age would sit in the service and be occupied by a coloring sheet or some other quiet activity, this is simply not our reality. 

You know what, though? God's not surprised by my situation. In fact, Riley is exactly how God planned for him to be. I constantly am learning about the finer things in life from him, like laughter. You know who else couldn't take God by surprise by their less than ideal family situation? Joseph. 

In the first Chapter of Matthew, verses 18 and 19 tell us: "This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly."

Joseph knew he couldn't be the father to this child since he had never been with Mary in a sexual way. He wanted to avoid a scene and move on. Look at verses 20-21 though: 

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

God was able to use what Joseph may have thought to be an unperfect situation to bring about the most amazing of things. Christmas should be a time when we celebrate the birth of the Christ child because without His birth, we never would have His death and resurrection: the one selfless act that could save all humans from the death we deserve. 

Because of Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice, my un-perfect family has a reason to celebrate. Now, to be fair, as my son and I were waiting for the service to get out, we read the Christmas story from Luke Chapter 2 and we read a children's story about God's love. We may be different than most families but it's because of this that we do Christmas differently.