Are you lights up outside?  Have you decorated your tree? Done all your shopping?  Created a perfect plan for your Christmas celebration and have the most adorable outfit all ready to go?

No?  THAT IS OK!

I used to work really hard at making this time of year magical and perfect.  Honestly, I was a little apprehensive going in to this years celebration of Jesus birth because I didn’t have my ‘act’ together.  My work load has increased recently as we ramp up for big changes starting January 2nd!  This has put me on the road a lot in preparation and away from the family.  My parents are staying in Arizona for Christmas and that changes ‘traditions’ for my family.  The thought of foraging new traditions is a bit daunting and makes me unsure.  I love my in-laws, they are a perfect fit for me, just like my husband and I look forward to being with them this year.  I’ll bring Dip to keep part of our family’s traditions as we make new memories, but it will be different.  My children will not wake up in their home on Christmas morning for the FIRST time ever!  Our Christmas tree was harvested from the beautiful forests in Central Oregon but it can’t hold all of my ornaments because the branches are to small….so 3/4 of my life is still stored away in the garage.  Our house is the only dark house on our block, no lights….

*SIGH*

I was driving around last night taking kids and picking up kids from all their activities and I was so thankful that they do what they do.  There are so many (all be it small) miracles for our family this year, that I could hardly contain myself.  I was blasting Christmas Carols and singing with all my heart, praising the ONE who came…

Then I began to see Christmas with new eyes…I saw the BEAUTIFUL MESS that Christmas REALLY is….

God, big, uncontainable, alpha-omega…Jesus (part of the Trinity God, made man).  What was Jesus thinking about these days leading up to his journey to Earth?  His days were not like ours.  All of His God-ness and glory was about to be packaged up in a little helpless infant and sent to this broken disgusting Earth to endure the most challenging life and a grueling death, in HOPES that ‘We The People’, might receive this as a gift of salvation and return to God with all their devotion.

Jesus probably wasn’t buying presents in Heaven, nor was he worried about WHO would be there when he was born or what kind of lights were adorning the manger.  He didn’t even care about DIP!

I know we like to think about this time of year as the day that Baby Jesus was born and how cute that was and how precious the manger scene must have been but it wasn’t glamorous or cute, it was dirty and messy and Jesus(God) was crammed into a little infant body, and for the first time in all eternity was completely dependent upon a human to care for His every need. He simply, humbly, without hesitation prepared to come to Earth for YOU.  It was a BEAUTIFUL mess.  Jesus knew it and He still did it.  He gracefully came and obediently served and mercifully saved.

My tree is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, my children will know the mystery that is Christmas this year, through the eyes of the One that came for them, the lights from my neighbors houses are beautiful and enough to light my own, the gifts mean nothing compared to The Gift.  My mess is His mess and He fixed all messes on that day many, many years ago when He came and gave His precious life.

A Beautiful Mess, indeed.