This year has been a hard one. Covid came and changed a lot of things in our day to day lives. Some lost jobs this year, some lost loved ones, and others are searching for their peace of mind… Then we couldn’t remember what month it was, due to quarantine; then boom! The holidays! They seem to hit so fast! Bills, gifts, more bills, and some seem as if they have been drowning to stay afloat or to give what they feel others deserves for Christmas… But what if this year is simple? What if this year it’s small?
I’ve been thinking about this for weeks as I stare at the small simple gifts placed under the tree. There not expensive. There not fancy. Some of the wrapping paper is even brown sacks I colored because I ran out of paper and didn’t want to go out and get more. (Quarantine lol.) What is simple isn’t enough? What if small is too small for Christmas?
The more I thought about it, the more I started to feel bad. Maybe I should get more? Maybe I should add something? Then I heard a small voice; “The first Christmas was small. Yet it was powerful!”. Small yet powerful… I have been pondering that for days…
When Jesus came to Earth in that cold winters night, nothing was BIG about it… He was born in a stable. He was placed in a manger. I just imagine one of those cold bone chilling nights, those nights I don’t even want to take the dog out it’s so cold on the porch! Yet Jesus was born possibly in something like that… & in a barn! Now I don’t know how fancy their barns were back then, but I’ve seen some of the barns these days and they are drafty. Then he had to lay in the feed trough.. Can you imagine laying your child in with the cows feed?
“But it was powerful!” – Powerful… When Jesus came into this world the story changed forever. Angels sang, shepherds came to seek him, wise men brought fancy gifts… Yet we were gave a gift that night. We were giving Jesus. A small baby. A small Christmas. It was a Christmas that changed the world.
What if this year when we get together we focus more on the small yet powerful moments. Not how much someone spent on your gift, not if your gift was enough, but the little moments. That laugh of a child giggling over nothing. The stories of a loved that has passed on, yet you can feel their presence. The warmth of a hug when someone tells you thank you. Or maybe step back and soak it all in on this small Christmas year. If this year has thought us anything it should be to focus on what we have. Each other…
So what if your gifts are cheap and small? So what if this year you pinched pennies and went cheap to make sure someone had a coffee cup just so they wouldn’t be left out. Appreciate it. Appreciate each gift. Let’s celebrate Christmas with the small but powerful moments… Just like the first one. And let’s keep telling the story of Jesus’s birth! Without that cold winters night, we would have no hope. No hope for 2020, no hope for 2021, and so on. Without the simple there would be nothing to compare it to & in the end : simple always wins.
Merry Christmas 🎁 may you have a happy little Christmas this year.
Marli – angel mom to Rhett and rainbow mom to Selah
Just Being Marli 