Christmas "Perfection"

I always have this idea of what the perfect Christmas will look like each year. This year it would consist of a relaxed and cozy time with family and a baby joyfully unwrapping gifts. Well, that didn't happen. Our baby got sick Christmas Eve just as she went to bed. I ended up sleeping on the floor in her room because she kept waking up and crying because she was having such a hard time breathing through a stuffy nose. I alternated between floor and chair, trying to comfort her and also catch some zz's. Needless to say, Christmas day, I was exhausted. It took forever just to get stuff done and my family out the door to go to my parents' for Christmas.

As I thought about how things weren't happening the way I had intended, something struck me that my husband had said at our Christmas Eve service at church. He mentioned that Mary was recovering from birth at that first Christmas. As I thought about that, I realized how "imperfect" the event was. That is, Mary went through labor pains, she loved her newborn, but she was still a woman recovering from birth, hormone rush and all. I'm sure it wasn't all peaches and cream for her. I'm sure Jesus woke her up every hour or two to feed. I'm sure she was tired and exhausted. But...it was still perfect. Why? Because a Savior had been born. Because the God-Man that would save us had entered the world. This was cause for rejoicing. So in the midst of shepherds coming to see them and Mary recovering, "Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19).

When it all comes down to it, every Christmas I get to see and celebrate is perfect. The fact that my Savior was born and I get to thank him and praise him means that every Christmas is perfect. I'm glad a perfect Christmas doesn't depend on healthy children, tons of gifts, even on lights, Christmas trees and ornaments. Our salvation, the birth of a baby over 2000 years ago, that is what Christmas rests on and this cannot be changed because it happened in history.

Our Christmas wasn't bad, in fact. We read the Christmas story. A stuffy baby joyfully opened presents and played with them. My family got together and enjoyed each others' company. But it was all perfect in truth because of what really matters: Immanuel, God With Us.