It’s a perfect December, one you always hope for. The day after Thanksgiving temperatures drop and soft snow falls as if nature understands that this is what we need to usher us into the spirit of Christmas. I look out the kitchen window at gentle white flurries while I’m rolling molasses cookies in sugar and sticking them into a warm oven. I sigh deeply, the kind where my body relaxes into the moment and my mind and soul are in the same place at the same time. The house is quite for a moment, little Alex is with Wayne at the new farm and I relish in this moment uninterrupted. He will come home for his nap and later we’ll make a small batch of sugar sprinkle cookies together. Tomorrow morning we will all bundle up and get in the truck to eat breakfast at a local diner- hot pancakes & maple syrup, thick cut bacon, hash browns, sausage gravy and orange juice- then pick out a Christmas tree to bring home. It’s extra cold this morning so Wayne offers to put it in the stand and brings it in with a grand entrance, only to scrape the top on the ceiling - again - we all laugh and he takes it back out to saw a chunk off the bottom. Hot creamy drinks are made and the decorating begins. The opening of the Christmas decor tub is a delight itself. Out come the hand crocheted stockings my grandmother made each of us in thick white cotton thread, the gingerbread men garland, nutcrackers, red velvet ribbons and trinkets we forgot about. All of the nostalgia is coming back slowly like the feeling returning to our numb fingers around our mugs. The books are uncovered and Alex is occupied for the rest of the day, pouring through them until we sit down to read each of them over and over in the next days. We set up the nativity with little figures he can play with and later Wayne sets up a new Christmas train around the tree he got at one of his auctions this year. It’s chilly outside and warm and cozy inside. We put on a Christmas movie and turn on the electric fireplace with fake wood and flames while we dream about the real one we might have someday on the new farm. I wake up early Sunday morning to wake up slowly while reading the first Advent study thinking of the true meaning of the season and the story of hope strewn all through scripture of our God’s goodness and promise to return. The birth of Jesus proves that God keeps every promise he makes and I think of all the promises he’s fulfilled for me and those I’m still waiting on.
Some years I hope for all these little details to come together and despite grand efforts to create magic, come up short somehow. The weather feels more like fall, and instead of snow we get rain and mud, the house feels more cluttered than cozy and the calendar is over-crowded, more money is spent than desired, one of us is not feeling well, or an unexpected challenge puts a dent in the overall Christmas spirit. Things we often can’t control… like the coveted snowflakes we long to surround our season of rest and celebration. We can all remember an iconic Christmas, whether we were snowed in for weeks at a time, school was called off and sled riding and endless cups of hot chocolate took its place, or the whole family gathered in one home with laughter and light-heartedness you didn’t know you’d cherish for years to come, or you had lots of joy-filled days at home baking cookies, writing cards and reading books together without feeling the hustle and bustle of the season. It seems those moments choose themselves, jumping decades at a time and I believe the challenge is not to manifest it through our efforts but to let each Winter happen just as it will an try and find the magic within it - snowflakes or not.
Just like we long for these warm feelings each December, so do we long to feel the presence of the Lord. I am reminded as I begin my Advent study* that the period between the end of the Old Testement, Malachi who foretold Christ’s coming in 430BC and the beginning of the New Testament, Matthew when Christ was born in 4BC that God was silent, the warmth of his presence was not felt. I read that this Intertestamental Period was significant though. Several key things happened that prepared the way for Jesus to come and his promise to be fulfilled. The language of the world (Greek) was spread by Alexander the Great which would be used to proclaim the gospel, and roads, ships and governments were built which would provide the backdrop for Jesus’ ministry on earth to name a couple. We are reminded that though God is silent it does not mean He is not at work.
May you know that whatever kind of December you find yourself in this year, God is still working and He will keep his promises. The whole story of the bible proves it so.
*Advent Study: Just As He Promised, The Daily Grace Co