Recently some friends of ours told us of their frustration
and sadness of the theft of the baby Jesus figurine from the nativity set they
had displayed in their front yard. It’s pretty disheartening that someone would
steal from your front yard in a small town, but even more so that they would
steal Jesus! I remember my dear friend telling me about it and the loss of
faith in mankind that it gave me just to hear the story, I can’t imagine how
discouraged I would have felt if it had happened to me. “I just need to wrap
some presents” she said, “to get me back into the Christmas spirit.”
And she was right. Because the joy of Christmas is found in the
Holy Spirit at work in the world, loving like Jesus. We can easily get
discouraged when we see people allowing evil to work instead of the Spirit, but
her reaction is an inspiration to us all. When people or situations disappoint
us, instead of getting discouraged, we need to work even more to spread
love.
That same family knocked on our door yesterday morning with donuts
and arms full of gifts for our family, something they do each year to shower
another family with love. It’s a humbling thing to be on the receiving end of
such an incredible act of generosity. As we sat and shared a cup of coffee I
silently thanked God for the incredible gift of their friendship and for the
wonderful reminder that you can’t steal Jesus.
The devil is working so very hard to make us forget the
story of the birth of Jesus. The story of the God who loved his people so much
He gave His son in exchange for them. The story that reminds us that after He
came He never left and He’s there to meet us in every joy and sorrow and
in-between. The story that this is not the end, but only a glimpse of the
incredible beauty that awaits us.
Moments like yesterday when I get to share conversation
with great friends, or when I walk into the room and my 4 year old is laying on
the floor holding his baby sisters hand, or the loving looks and helpful hands
that offer assistance when I’m out in public with all the kids, and my husbands
constant and completely unconditional love are all pointing me to heaven. “This
is just a piece of the joy that’s waiting for you,” God whispers in those
moments.
Christmas is almost here and I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of
things that don’t appropriately reflect the season of pointing us to the joy of
heaven. But let’s all take a lesson from my friends and let our response to
those things be to let the spirit work through us to spread love, to give
people glimpses of Jesus and the joy that knowing Him brings. Because no matter
what anyone does, they can never steal Jesus from our hearts.
So here’s to wishing not that you have the most perfect or
merriest of Christmases, but that you get the opportunity to love others this
Christmas. Share the story; it's most beautiful when told without any words.
