Have you been asked the perennial question yet? “Are you ready for Christmas?”
I was recently asked how I was handling the chaos of Christmas?
Are you asking me if I’m stable?
Maybe they meant to ask, “Have you purchased all your gifts?” Why yes, I have. Amazon has quickly delivered most to my door, but I am waiting for two more. I found a few others in stores I’ve explored.
I’m sure the question begs if I am ready for guests? I’ve gotten away with quick, off-the-cuff meal planning for months, but soon the house will host more than us two. My hubs is rare. He’s fed from the cupboard, which is bare. After all, he willingly counts chips and salsa or popcorn as dinner.
Did I accidentally click my heels three times and find myself at Christmas? Did we finish all the ham and turkey leftovers from Thanksgiving? Lasagna sounds like a yummy Christmas dish.
I opened an invitation for dinner to bring a shared dish and for a party to bring 4-5 dozen cookies to exchange if I wish. Now, I’m feeding items to my endless grocery list.
“If anyone can manage the chaos of planning endless meals at Christmas, it’s you!” my man insists, so I must persist.
There are butterscotch Scotties, chocolate chip, and snicker doodle cookies to bake, along with a peach cobblers and pumpkin pies to make. The décor is up, and the Christmas tree is lit. The elves are on the shelves or in a jar, helping themselves. Sheets are cleaned for visitors. I just need to dust a bit.
Ready for Christmas? Ready or not, here it comes!
When I’m asked that question each year, I’m learning to respond to it with a new sort of cheer. I’m learning to create a stable peace around Christmas time, whether I’ve baked the cookies or the lights on the tree twinkle. Jesus’ birth calms my inner chaos, whether thousands of years ago it was a silent night or not. Jesus was born in a stable, but I don’t have to feel stable to be ready to celebrate His birth.
What is this stable birth?
Consider that in Jesus’ world, families lived in a single-room house with the lower compartment for animals to be brought in at night. There was a room at the back or space on the roof for visitors. The family living area had hollows in the ground filled with straw where animals fed. Mary birthed Jesus in stable, the lower floor of a peasant house where animals were kept.
It’s encouraging to know the Latin origin of stable means to stand firm and steadfast. No matter our current upheaval, shaky emotional surroundings, or sinking sand feelings, we can be reborn in that stable with Him. We may find ourselves entrenched in cold, chaos, clutter, and critters. Yet, because He is with us, we can still stand steadfast in a stable peace.
He started His earthly life in a stable way—a reminder to live our lives in His stable way…when life doesn’t go according to our plan…when we’re on a journey of many dark nights…when we’re pregnant with fear…when our well-being is plotted against…when we’re surrounded by animal kingdom type chaos where only the fittest survive.
He invites us to His beginning, to live His simple stable way.
No matter how chaotic and unstable life seems.
No matter the lowly circumstances we find ourselves enveloped in.
He stands firm and steadfast with us.
This Christmas when someone asks me, “Are you ready?”
I proclaim…I am!
I’m leaning into Christmas in His Stable Way.
