A Vintage Christmas {Advent series, week 1}
vintage: of old, recognized, and enduring interest, importance, or quality : CLASSIC
The angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” Luke 1:13–17
[hr]
Don’t worry about dinner or dessert,” says the nineteen-year-old daughter who abandoned our nest last Spring. “It’s your birthday. We’ll take care of everything.”
The day of the party arrives. With a light heart I vacuum, dust, lint-roll, and shine. Crank up some Christmas music. Light a pumpkin-spice candle. Anticipate the gift of time with my kiddos.
But not long before party time, my phone rings. My daughter’s friend has had a family crisis, and she feels she should be there to offer comfort. “Can we move the party to tomorrow night?” she asks.
My tummy clenches. Don’t be fake. Don’t teach her to be a people-pleasing woman who fakes.
“I won’t pretend I’m not disappointed,” I say as sweetly as I can. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t understand.”
Her voice is soft, regretful. “I know. I’m disappointed too.”
[hr]
Last week I heard several friends my age describe their Thanksgiving celebrations this way: “It was . . . different. Not bad, but different.”
Have you run into this?
Our grown kids now have lives, jobs, spouses, in-laws. They may be ready to launch their own family traditions and prefer to invite us into their way of doing things. Without warning, our matriarchal position may have shifted.
Could it be that disappointment is to be expected and different is our new tradition? Can we learn to be okay with that?
If so, how do we prepare for Christmas? What’s the antidote for disappointment?
Every year I find myself chasing the idea of a classic Christmas. In fact, this year for kicks I’ve gone totally retro. Or maybe totally nuts. From decorations to music to movies to Christmas dinner, everything will be old-school, from the eras of the 60s or 70s.
Goofy, I know. But I’ve committed.
Yet my plan could easily derail. Stuff happens. I could come down with the flu, run out of energy, lose enthusiasm.
Or worse.
But if I don’t prepare, it’ll surely never happen. So I Googled “60s Christmas.” Made a to-do list. And when the party rolled back around last night, I enlisted my grown kids to make paper chains and snowflakes. Yes, just like second-graders. Hey, they had to oblige–it was my birthday!
(I’d hoped we would string popcorn for the tree as well, but was overruled on the basis it would be a waste of perfectly good non-GMO popcorn.)
None of this, of course, has anything to do with the classic meaning of Christmas. Fun is fun and family is a gift. But it’s a gift I neither possess nor control. And it has an earthly expiration date. Which means I’m guaranteed to meet with disappointment sometimes.
The thing I need most at Christmas is for hope to be reborn in my heart. And only Jesus can give hope that doesn’t fail.
Hope that comforts in hard times. Hope that overrides disappointment. The antidote. But Jesus can’t come to a heart that’s not ready. He can’t save someone who isn’t asking (again) to be saved. And so we prepare.
That’s why this Advent series starts with Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist. Because in Luke 1, God’s angel said that’s where Christmas had to start. We read that while Zechariah performed his priestly duties in the temple, a heavenly messenger showed up to say that Zechariah and Elizabeth would have a son. And that child, drenched in the Holy Spirit, would prepare the hearts of men to receive Jesus.
God sent Jesus to Earth because his peoples’ hearts had turned to worthless things. Outward appearances, not inward devotion. False motives, not true repentance. Same traps we fall into today.
But first he sent John to “go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins . . . to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death” (1:76–79).
Unlike my wishful Christmas scheming, Christ’s inward coming is sure. He’ll always be as near to us as we invite him.
Whenever we open the door to our true, repentant selves, Christ comes again. Entering like that sweet, perfect infant into a filthy stable. Offering forgiveness where we would wallow in failure. Light and life where we’d otherwise know only darkness and death. Love so lavish we can’t help but go love others.
[bctt tweet=”Whenever we open the door to our true, repentant selves, Christ comes again. Entering like that sweet, perfect infant into a filthy stable.” username=”KitTosello”]
3 Questions and Your Week-1 Challenge
Consider:
Who or what has the power to disappoint me this month?
How will I respond to disappointment?
As Christmas approaches, am I spending as much time preparing my heart as my home?
Do:
Look at your December to-do list, whether it’s mental, on paper, or in your phone. Add one item, “Jesus comes.”
Now place a check mark next to only those line items that are in your control or you can a-thousand-percent bank on happening. (Is there anything, as unlikely as it may seem, that could happen tomorrow to cause your budget to change? Or to disable you physically from completing an item?)
Wind up with only one check mark? Perfect. You got this! 🙂
Pray:
Lord, I want more than anything to welcome you into my heart this Christmas. Turn my heart back to you. Show me where I need to repent. Forgive my tendency to adore the gifts over the Giver. Help me adjust my expectations and surrender my disappointments to you. Prepare me to be drenched in the joy of your salvation.
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Going retro? I LOVE it. sis. Wish I could be there, cold and all. Praying to see the everyday miracles.
I love everything about this and I am blessed you shared at #TellHisStory. It sounds like you are in a similar life stage as me, but perhaps your kids are a little younger. Thanksgiving has looked different for years because it has always been the in-law holiday. But the blessing is that my kids and I create new holiday memories even as the family is changing. It has turned out to be some of our best gatherings.
Hi Mary! Considering God’s steady theme of making all things new and the fact that he knows best what brings us joy, I’m beginning to wonder why I get so fixated on the old. Again we trust. And again he surprises. Thanks for your testimony of hope.
Well Kit, I may not be an empty-nester, but I subscribed to your blog anyway! I hope that’s okay. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I don’t want to miss out!
Although I may not be experiencing disappointment in some of the ways that you mention, with the world constantly pulling for our attention and distracting us from Jesus, I do find myself constantly needing to refocus on Him. Thank you for the encouragement.
Autumn, so glad to have you! The struggle is real. . . in every season of life!
Wise words, even for me whose disappointments feel pretty big. Thank you. laurensparks.net
Praying for your current disappointments, Lauren. May your Christmas season be heartwarming and sacred. Thanks for visiting.
Kit, your words caused me to contemplate my grumpiness regarding the commercial “Christmas” over the past several years. The world makes this season nothing about my Christ. In the past I have started December with a feeling of dread. But finally, after prayer & questioning Jesus helped me realize I just have to set my eyes on Him & the rest of the hub-bub falls away. Fix your eyes upon Jesus. Of course. Thanks for your Wise words.
Yes, Jill. Agreed. How we anticipate Christmas has a lot to do with how we experience it. May yours be meaningful, that is, Jesus-full 🙂
I love your honesty and vulnerability, Kit, and of course the overriding question that I had to deal with a few years ago: “Could it be that disappointment is to be expected and different is our new tradition?” Yes, disappointment and ‘different’ and not-like-the-familiar, but still good snatches of time with our adult children as they establish new family traditions of their own, and include us when they can.
Marlys, I take such courage from the way you respond to changing circumstances. Widowhood may lie ahead for many of us, and we need women like you sharing your hard-won hope. Prayers over your Christmas season, that however it may look you’ll feel the Lord’s joy overflowing.
As I was reading this my emotions went all over the place but it also has motivated me to stop and pray over Christmas, family, relationships, anticipation, the anxieties that come and go. Then I remember the verse in Phil. 4:6 – Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made know unto God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Phew! I so need to walk in this. My Christmas verse over this month.
Thank you Kit 🙂
Cheri, thank you for quoting Phil. 4:6. It always washes me in peace. Ironic, isn’t it, that peace is most likely to elude us in the month we celebrate the Prince of Peace? Well, at least we’re learning. Praying peace over you and your family 🙂
So good, Kit! Thank you for your thoughtful reminders of the true meaning of this season. ❤️
Thank you, Robin! Praying for you, your family, and your exciting new artistic endeavors!
I hear you, sister. Holidays will be disappointing only if we let them. Jesus never disappoints and being thankful in all circumstances means I want to choose gratitude even when things don’t work out like I planned–which is a natural part of life. I especially loved this: “Whenever we open the door to our true, repentant selves, Christ comes again. Entering like that sweet, perfect infant into a filthy stable.” What a beautiful picture! <3
Amen, Amen to gratitude, Vickie! You’ve been prayed for today 🙂
Kit, this is just plain goodness through and through!
Thank you, Michele! I’ve just prayed for you. 🙂