Merry Christmas

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

John 3:16 NIV

To be honest with you, I’ve had a pretty hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year. Between not getting much sleep and some uncontrollable and difficult things going on in our family, I’ve kinda been phoning it in.

If you read my last article, “The Kindness Of A Shepherd,” you know that I watched the film The Nativity Story a few nights ago. Christmas movies are a big thing in my family.

Decorating the Christmas tree? Put on a Christmas movie.

Decorating cookies? Put on a Christmas movie.

Wrapping presents? Put on a Christmas movie.

Chillin out eating the cookies you just decorated 5 minutes ago? Put on a Christmas movie.

It’s just our thing.

So, that being said, it’s fitting and no surprise that it was watching The Nativity Story that began to wake me like Ebenezer Scrooge after his visit from the three spirits.

“It’s Christmas! And a merry one too!”

On Christmas Eve Eve (as Friends says) my three cousins and Mimi came over to continue our tradition of decorating Christmas cookies. For as long as I can remember we’ve done this. First just myself and Mimi then, one by one over the years, my cousins (who are more like sisters) joined in. It’s one of my favorite times.

This year though, with as tired as I am and everything else going on, I wasn’t sure I even wanted to do it. I was so close to saying “let’s just skip it this year.” But, I forced myself and I’m glad I did.

Sometimes it can be bad to push yourself to do things. You just have to say “I can’t do it right now.” That’s ok. But sometimes it’s good to force yourself, push yourself outside of what you want to do. It’s the telling the difference that’s the hard part.

This was one of the good times.

Talking, designing, planning, teasing, laughing, and just being together with family was exactly what I needed. Now it felt like Christmas, and I felt like it too.

So as I lay here on Christmas Eve finishing this article-after my family has all gone home and I stay up later than I should to be ready to spend more time with them for Christmas dinner-I’m full with the warmth (both from family and the bourbon that was in my coffee), happiness, laughter, peace, nostalgia, and contentment that only Christmas can bring. It brings it not because of presents, or food, or lights and decorations but because it’s the perfect and exact mixture of the two things that bring us the most real and lasting joy. The two things that even in the midst of our exhaustion and hardest times, when we can barely muster a “Merry Christmas,” have the ability to lift us up and bring us out of our circumstances and fears. And the two things that brought me to getting in the Christmas spirit. The gift of a family and the gift of a Savior.

I hope that, like me, in the middle of everything that this season brings you’ve found both family and Christ. I hope that you feel their warmth, happiness, laughter, and peace. And I hope that like in one of my favorite Christmas movies, How The Grinch Stole Christmas (the Jim Carey version), you discover that “Christmas perhaps, means a little bit more.”

Merry Christmas!

---

Well, those are my remARCs. I hope they in some way, big or small, might have resonated with you. Whether it made you laugh, cry (I hope not too much), smile, or maybe think about life from a different perspective, I hope you take something away from this article that makes your day even the slightest bit better. I’d love to hear your remARCs as well. Feel free to send me an email at myremarcs@comcast.com, or leave a comment on the My RemARCs Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram pages… unless you hated it. In which case, why are you even still reading this? Hope to see you back here soon. Until then, be well and live remARCably.