The older my kids get, the harder Christmas gets. This year Elizabeth didn't have a list. Didn't want to give me one, said there wasn't anything she really needed. While this brings great satisfaction in me, that she is content with what she has already, it also made me worry that she would be disappointed in Christmas, not much to open. But then that is always a worry for me, even though it isn't about the gifts, I want to see that joy on my kids faces, that they are happy. Even though we have taught them early on, that whatever they are given today, is more than they had the day before. Even though I have historically grateful kids, it weighs on me. The last thing I wanted this Christmas, was to focus on the potential disappointment. I don't know that I have ever actually seen them be disappointed, but the fear always seems to be there. The enemy's way of distracting me from the real meaning of Christmas. That Jesus came to save the world. That He left the glories of Heaven to become like us, to know the pain and temptations we face. That He came to get dirty, the King of Kings, born in the humblest of places, came to do the hard stuff. To be with people considered "unworthy" by society. To talk and eat with tax collectors and prostitutes. He didn't seek out religious leaders of the day, they were too busy keeping the law and making sure others knew they were keeping the law, worried about appearances, how they looked. How often are we turned away because of the way someone looks or acts? Are we willing to get dirty too? We were part of a group that went to Hope Mission about two weeks ago, to work in the shelter, feeding people that had no place to go, to provide worship to those same people. Two days later, a homeless man was found dying on the streets,and later died in the hospital, we very possibly served him one of his last meals. Did we do enough? Did we reach him? What else could we have done? I worry about gifts for my kids, he worried about his next meal. I worry that my kids are have stuff, he worried about staying warm. There are people that would say it was somehow this guys own fault that he ended up there on the streets. Maybe, maybe he did make poor choices...but just maybe he didn't, maybe through circumstances beyond his control he ended up without a home, without a family to turn to, with nothing. Does that mean we show him less compassion? That somehow the REASON he is there, dictates how we respond? That isn't how Jesus responded, it was with grace, and mercy each and every time He encountered someone in need regardless of how they came into that need. We are called to respond with grace, and mercy, it isn't easy, but He didn't promise easy.
