More than Ordinary: Some Thoughts for Christmas

To be honest, Christmastime feels a little different every year. As I get older, it seems more like any winter month, with short days and cold nights and fog resting over the canyons.

Sometimes, it almost feels discouraging. An ordinary winter day wrapped up in all this joy that slowly gets teared away as each year passes.

I’ve forgotten the meaning of Christmas from time to time. Or maybe I’ve heard the story about the baby born in Bethlehem so often that I don’t let it ring in my heart the same way.

Recently, I stopped to think about what that story means for us.

It’s funny–Just a month ago, Thanksgiving encouraged us to list our gratitudes. Somehow Christmas in our culture became about the opposite: Listing our wants.

As a kid, I rejoiced in tearing the paper open to find my Christmas wishes lying inside.

But these days, I’ve found myself wanting what lies much deeper. Security, success, peace, belonging, rest.

At times, those seem impossible to find.

I had been feeling this way as I pondered on the Christmas story again. And then I looked a closer at the baby in the manger. This beautiful gift.

And I realized that not only my needs, but also my deepest wants, had been satisfied.

No, God has never promised to grant us everything we ask. But what He has given us can fulfill our longings, if we only see His gift for what it really is.

The world may not have known it, but reality changed the night that Jesus came down to earth. The impossible hope of salvation, and eternity, became possible.

And with it came…

Security in a love that never changes (Rom. 8:35).

Success in a door to eternal life (John 10:9).

Peace in a promise of heard prayers (Philippians 4:7).

Belonging in a perfect plan (Jer. 29:11).

Rest in a life-giving purpose (Matt. 11:29).

I may have imagined these longings to have different roots. Security rooted in other peoples’ words. Success rooted in winning races or acing tests. Peace rooted in a lack of stressful moments. Belonging rooted in popularity. Rest rooted in days of perfect health.

But God’s thoughts have never matched the world’s ideas.

“‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the Lord.
    ‘And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.'”

~Isaiah 55:8, NLT

Nobody imagined that the Savior of the world would come down to earth as a baby. A baby, so humble. So seemingly ordinary. Yet greater than anyone could have imagined.

Our world has a tendency to overlook the ordinary. In an obsession with what’s impressive, the simple moments often get forgotten.

After the mediocre–and even the bad–race days, my dad has always told me something along the lines of “I’m proud of you.”

And I would always wish that I had done something genuinely impressive, something actually ‘worthy’ of a father’s pride…

But really, what I needed was exactly I what I got: A father whose love I didn’t need to earn, because he loved me just for being me. Just for being his daughter.

Christmas reminds me of the perfect love of a heavenly Father who loves the world just for what it is. Just for being His world, the beautiful one that He created.

Christmas was never about being impressive. It was never about us impressing God to earn His love. It was never about Jesus impressing the world to make it instantly worship Him.

No, Christmas has always been about the miracles in the ordinary.

The ordinary maiden, yet a miraculous conception.

The ordinary town, yet a miraculous star.

And the seemingly ordinary baby in an ordinary stable on an ordinary night, yet all the miracles to follow in His path.

Sometimes the greatest moments can come out of the ordinary. The overlooked.

Maybe it’s time to look a little closer.

I’ve looked a little closer at the same ornaments going up on the tree every year. The same advent devotional I read with my siblings every December morning. The same traditions, same people, same place.

And the same passage in Luke that I’ve read to myself every Christmas Eve since I was eight years old.

I’ve looked a little closer, and realized that it’s all a part of something beautiful.

Every year can feel a little more disheartening, because you realize that all you deeply want in this life can’t be wrapped up in paper or tied with a ribbon.

But it all can be found in the baby in the manger, the One Who came down to earth to give His life for us.

This beautiful gift that came straight from the heart of a Father who loves you just for being you.

You–An ordinary person with an ordinary life.

No, His beautiful creation, His beloved son or daughter.

Look a little closer, my reader.

Maybe an ordinary Christmas means more to us than we had ever imagined.